My attempt at a haiku

Grief can make you sad

Can make it seem quite dark now

But there can be light

"Happiness can be found in even the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." -Dumbledore

Cinder Series

   Agflbtik! These books are awsome! They give a new definition to the words "fractured fairytale." 

    Okay, take Cinderella. Now put her in a futuristic, dystopian China. Now make her a cyborg. Throw in a crazy queen from the moon and a plot to overthrow the empire and you've got the gist. 

    I'll admit, I was scepticall, but this book hooks you in pretty quickly. If you're anything like me, you won't be able to wait to get your hands one the second one. 

      I'm currently on the second book, Scarlet, but I can't really do much on that one without giving away plot. :/ In short: Scarlet's grandmother goes missing and she enlists the help of a street fighter. 

       Welp, that's all for now. I'm off to the bookstore. 

                               -Boo. 

T.A.R.D.I.F Episode 2ish part 3

     Madison had fainted soon after the creatures had picked her up. Their terrible sucker hands were slimy enough to feel through her clothes. 

      She awakened when she felt the Keeper trying-unsuccessfully- to drag her to safety. The sight of both the monsters around them and the mud on her skirt  was almost enough to make her pass out  agian.

      The Keeper steadied her as she began to sway. "Steady there, my girl." 

      "I'm fine. Really." She looked over at the crowd of monsters as they overtook Rory. 

      They watched as he hacked away, slicing the creatures apart. But for every one that fell, two more seemed to take its place. She saw Rory fall and surged forwards. 

        Dimly, she heard the Keeper call out to her, but it felt as though he was calling from the end of a long tunnel. She summoned what streangth she possessed and grabbed Rory's sword. 

       Blood coated it, but she did her best to ignore that. She also ignored the fact that blood coated the ground. 

        "Can you actually use that?" The Keeper called to her.

         "Sure," she called back. "I took two years of fencing in my senior year of high school. Piece of cake." She gulped. " I hope." She whispered. 

         Madison swept the sword at the creatures, though they were beginning to look disinterested. Some of them wandered towards the Keeper, who was looking helplessly on the sidelines. Those who stayed began creeping towards Rory, whom she was standing over. 

      When one of them got too close, she would lash out, cutting a sucker or slicing through their pasty flesh. Once she managed to slice off a button eye. It sat there on the pavement, glaring at her hungrily. 

        The monsters circled around her and Rory, occasionally making a lunge, then regretting it. Suddenly, they all raised their heads as one, hearing something inaudible to everyone else. Then Madison blinked and they were gone. 

        No monsters, no impending doom, just a button on the pavement coated in blue-purple blood. 

        Rory groaned. Madison turned to him, taking stock of the uncocius boy's injuries. He had a few minor cuts and bruises all over and a large one on his forehead. But the most troubling thing was the gash on his right arm. Most of the human blood on the street had probably come from that wound, which meant that he would also be suffering from blood loss when he woke up. Grand. 

      "We should go." The Keeper glanced at the sky nervously, then at Rory and Madison, then back. "If I'm right, they got called back to their ship. Which generally means one of two things: they got bored and left, or the queen wants the hunt for herself." 

       Madison felt her eyes widen. "We need to get out of here!" She looked helplessly at Rory. "How on earth are we going to move him?"

        "Leave that to me. You've done well, you deserve a rest." 

       The Keeper walked over and hefted Rory onto his shoulder, though it was no small effort. 

        "Let's go."

I have always loved you.

    So.... This is a short story snippet I wrote. It's sort of a "powers of faith thing." Fiction, not a personal experience.  By the way, the character is about seven in my head. A mature seven. And a half. 

    She hesitated, the breath of their taunts ringing in her ears as she teetered on the edge of the window sill. 

    Could she do it? Did she trust Him enough? Did she trust herself enough? Mabye she had taken the "boast in faith assignment" a touch too far. 

     Please God. She thought. If you have ever loved me, give me courage now. 

     Suddenly she felt a shove from behind. Her eyes widened as she went over the edge. The wind rushed in her ears she went down, down, down. 

     Then, suddenly it was as if a giant, invisible hand had caught her from underneath. Gently, it guided her to the ground. 

     Before she could fully register what had happened, a still, small voice whispered in her ear. 

      "Meline, I have always loved you."

T.A.R.D.I.F episode 2ish part 2

   Rory raced around the corner as quickly as he could, only to be halted in his tracks. Maddy was in the clutches of the illiterates. 

     illiterates were pale, heartless monsters. They looked a bit like zombies, with pale skin and cracks in their skulls, which were always leaking a fluid you wouldn't want identified. They had suckers for hands, which they used to suck out the intelligence they fed upon. They had no need for their sharp, shark-like teeth so they were often rotting and falling out. But worse of all was their cold, button eyes, stitched onto their sockets as if they were grotesque rag dolls. And a group of them were surrounding Maddy. 

    Rory shook himself out of his shock and leapt into action. He drew his sword, which earned him the attention of the monsters. The one holding Madison dropped her and crept towards him with the rest. 

     Come on Rory. He thought. This is the kind of thing you've trained for. Assess them! Look for weaknesses! Their attracted to higher intelligences. They aren't very smart. They-

      "Great ink!" 

      Rory turned to see the Keeper standing on the opposite corner. His eyes flickered between Maddy and the illiterates. 

      "Don't just stand there!" Rory shouted at him. "I'll fend them off, you get Maddy to safety." 

      For a moment he thought the Keeper might get offended. Then the old man nodded and started making his way towards the schoolteacher, who had long since fainted. 

      Rory turned back to the monsters and switched his brain to autopilot. He jabbed, thrusted and ducked, scarcely noticing how his friends were fairing. 

      "Rory?" The Keeper called out. 

      "I'm a bit busy at the mo- arghhh!" The last part was due to an illiterate raking though his shoulder with its teeth. 

     Pain shot through his right arm, tinting his vision red. Another illiterate saw its opportunity and lunged. He swung his sword, though he both regretted and was glad when his vision darkened. But the cut he had made was deep enough to kill the creature. The others stepped back, but walked around him in a pulsating ring. 

     Rory switched his sword to the other arm. Not an ideal situation, but better than death. He glanced down at his arm.       Blood was already coursing down it, so he didn't look to see what state his arm was in. 

    He tried to see the Keeper and Maddy, but he couldn't. He asummed they were safe. it was better than the alternative. 

      The illiterates advanced suddenly, a wave of grotesquely deformed zombies of death, and they were headed straight for him. 

      Rory fought. He slashed through everything within his reach. But every motion made the world go a touch darker. 

      Finally, he collapsed, barley clinging to contiousness. His last sensation was his sword being lifted out of his hands and the knowledge that there were just too many. 

More Ninjago acrostics

Knows fire

Abrasive 

Idiotically loyal 

Jabber mouth

Aerial inventions 

Yelling at the world

Cool 

Ornery 

Level headed 

Every guy's best friend 

Zany

Android

New to humor

Even tempered

Not a baby

You can do it 

Anything but stay at home

Serene

Enough of evil

Not your average old man

Stop his brother

In the wise

Lord Garrmadon's son

Little bit evil

Odd

You've been pranked

Destiny 

Ninjago related acrostics OR Another attempt at poetry

Fighter

Irate 

Revenge

Everything consumed

Lithe

Intelligent 

Great power

Heated 

Toposphere lighting

Near death experience 

Incredible speed

Not stoppable 

Great fear

Even 

A solid ground 

Rock 

The mountain high

Here and there and everywhere

Intellectually higher

Cold

Ever freezeing

Not seen

Intelligent 

Not heard

Just feared 

Assassin 

T.A.R.D.I.F episode 2ish

   Rory was in shock. After arguing some more with him, the Keeper had stormed off too. Rory hated arguing, but the Keeper wouldn't listen to him any other way. Was it his fault the old man was headstrong and aroggant? But Maddy had run off first. 

      Man did that hit home. She may have been older than him, by about six years, but during their brief time on the T.A.R.D.I.F he'd gotten close to the young schoolteacher. She was like an older sister to him, abliet one who was far more naive than he was on certain subjects. Not that he didn't have sisters at Camp, they were just harder to warm up to. 

     One thing he'd learned at Camp Jupiter; never break your team up, unless it was for a good reason. An argument over who was the bigger child would probably not count as a good reason. 

      He could hear Reyna now  "What have I told you about aggravating your cohort members, Rory? You're too headstrong, Rory, your not a leader yet. One more infraction and I'll have to put you on plabito." Yeah, that would go swimmingly. 

      The cohort had tried to be his family. But they didn't use him for much since only real skill was in medicine. He couldn't even shoot like a proper child of Apollo. Even baby-faced Zang shot better than he did. The gladius was his preferred weapon, but no! They had to reserve those for higher ranking people, and why couldn't he pick up a bow and leave their swords alone? 

       Rory sighed as he walked down the street. He didn't know The Neverending Story very well, so he didn't much know where Maddy would be. He still had the bag with the ether wires in it. A lot of good that'd do him now. Even if he somehow managed to get back to the Inkspace, he would have to find the shop. Not to mention fix it, which he didn't have the slightest idea how to do, and then fly it, which he had less of a clue on. 

      He'd decided finding Maddy was the best he could do at the moment. He kicked a can on the curb while he mulled over his options. 

       His thoughts were interrupted by a scream periceing the falling dusk. He only thought one thing before running towards its source. 

      Madison!

T.A.R.D.I.F Episode 1.5 (part 3)

     Falling. Madison wasn't aware of anything else. Her eyes were shut tightly, and her limbs were uselessly trailing behind her. She'd figured out there was no hope of getting into a more suitable position. Especially if she couldn't tell up from down. She just tried to shut it all out. 

     Suddenly she became aware of someone shaking her. Reluctantly, she opened one eye. The Keeper was standing over her, gently trying to get her up. She sat up.

     "What happened?" She groaned. 

     "I found the door!" The Keeper grinned at her. "I suppose I should have given you a bit of warning before we went through, in hindsight. Ah, well! Past is past!" He clapped his hands together, as if that were the end of it. 

     Rory groaned next to her, rubbing his neck. He was lying facedown in the grass, with no apparent intention of moving. 

     "Where are we?" Madison asked. 

     "Off-hand? I'd say a school ground. We must be at the very beginning." 

     "School-ground?" Madison turned around to find that, sure enough, they were on the lawn of an elementary school. 

     Rory sat up. "So where are we going to find ether wires?" 

     The Keeper thought a moment. "Well, I'd start in the local hardware store, but if it doesn't have any I'd suggest the book shop." 

     "What if we're wrong?" Madison blurted out. "What if there are no ether wires here and we're stuck forever?"

     The others stared at her a moment. Apparently only just realizing the gravity of the situation. 

     "If there isn't any in town," the Keeper said finally. " I know a great supplier in the latter section of the book. We'd simply have to wait it out." He assured her. 

     She nodded, though her fears weren't really dissuaded. She blinked back her tears, got up, and began brushing the grass off her pencil skirt.

     "Alright. Let's get going then."

------------------------------------------------

 

     "How dare you!" Shouted the Keeper, an hour later. "The size of one's nose can hardly be helped! Unlike the size of one's stomach, which, speaking of, you could stand to miss a few meals, good sir." 

     "Why you!" The pudgy man behind the counter was practically lunging for the Keeper's throat at this point. 

     They'd been at the mechanics shop for over 30 minutes, half of which the Keeper had been arguing with the shopkeeper. In Madisoon's opion, he was a badly dressed little man who looked as though he wouldn't fit under a car. But she would never dare say such a thing. She wasn't sure what had started the  argument, but it wasn't getting any prettier. 

     "ENOUGH!" Rory finally shouted. 

     He grabbed the long pinkish tubes from atop the counter, then threw a few gold coins onto it. 

     "Keep the change." He muttered. 

     They walked out of the store, Rory fuming, the Keeper's face unreadable, and Madison absolutely terrified she'd have to pick sides. When they were about a block or two away from the mechanic's Rory whirled towards the Keeper. 

     "I thought you were smarter than that!" He glowered. "I thought you were this wise old man, and it turns out you're a petty toddler!" 

     The Keeper started. "Excuse me! I am over three hundred years old! If any one is a toddler it would be you."

     Rory glared at the Keeper with such ferocity that Madison wouldn't have been at all suprised if he'd stabbed him with his sword. 

     "How many people have you lost in those three hundred years?"

     The Keeper blanched. "I-I lost some family members, a few book characters I couldn't save, but apart from that-"

     "Then you have no right to call me a toddler." He leaned in close to the Keeper, so that he was almost touching his nose. "You forget what you plucked me out of, old man. We were fighting Mother Earth herself. And quite frankly, at the moment-"

     "Oh would both of you stop it!" Madison cried out. "You're children, both of you! I get that you've both been through a lot, and that you're both very much smarter than I could ever hope to be, but that doesn't give you the right to bully each other around! Come and find me when you've worked it out. Because I can't bear to stand here and watch this." 

     With that, she turned on her heel and ran off, before either of them had processed what had happened, or saw the tears in her eyes. 

Let Me Tell You A Story

Were I to tell you a story

What would I say?

I'd say something new 

Each and everyday.

Let me tell you a story,

One fairly new,

About a bold elf

And his bright bow of yew.

A story with dragons,

Knights, and a king.

Princesses in towers dreaming  

About everything.

Let me tell you a story…

T.A.R.D.I.F Episode 1.5 (part 2)

    It felt like hours since they'd left the ship. The endless blank they were traveling trough showed no signs of changing.

     The Keeper walked a few paces ahead of Madison and Rory. His nose was buried in a Dewy Decimal reference sheet. Madison wasn't exactly sure what it was for, but every so often he would look up and glance around, after which he often changed direction abruptly. 

      Madison had never been a fitness nut. While her figure wasn't overwight, she wasn't thin either. As a result, she'd almost been caught by the Jabberwocky, Peace Keepers, and a hydra. Not to mention she was currently falling towards the back of their three person group. 

      Rory slowed a moment to let her catch up. 

       "How do you stay so fit?" She panted. 

        He grinned cheekily at her. "Half a lifetime of rigorous training twenty four seven. Not to mention the war games and the quest i went on." 

         Madison glanced up at him. "Is that your way of making me feel better? Because if it is, your beside manner needs work."

         He laughed. "No. I'm just not used to being the strong one. Back home I was a healer, a medic. While I saw more than my 'fair share' of battle wounds, I didn't see a lot of action." 

        "More than me." Madison grumbled. "I spent the majority of my life ignoring the realm of fiction and immersing myself in the world of facts." She chuckled. "Now here I am, exploring the very thing I tried to dismiss."

       Rory nodded. "But we're here now, and at the end of the day, that's all that counts."

       "Ah-HA!" The Keeper shouted suddenly. "According to this," he thumped the paper, "we should be coming up on our destination shortly." 

      He turned and gave them a manical grin. "Hold on, kids. It's going to be a bumpy ride."

      He thrust out his hand, then turned a seemingly invisible key. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, simultaneously , the floor dropped out, the world went black, and they sank into nothingness, like ink seeping into the next page. 

Bit of babble

    So… I'm at a bit of a blockage with T.A.R.D.I.F. My brain is full of other stuff (see who-knows-what and bunch-of-junk) so I can't think straight and come up with the rest of the plot. Because of my full head, there will probably be a bunch of random bits of writing that won't go anywhere (one-shot type stuff) as well as a delay on T.A.R.D.I.F related posts.  

     Most of it will be drabble and babble, but let me know what you like and I'll try to make more for you. 

                 Insert-clever-sign-off-here

                                          Boo

T.A.R.D.I.F Episode 1.5

    WHooSHwhOOshWHooSHwhOOshwOoooGRRRRRRRRRIIIIiiiiinnnnd... 
     Madison looked up from the bookshelf. It was her turn to choose where they were heading, and she'd been in the middle of choosing a book- typically a three hour long process- when the usual gentle whirring of the machine turned into a horrid grinding. Then it stopped all together.
      She looked down from the first level. "Keeper?" she called "What's going on? What's wrong? Did we break down somewhere?"
       The Keeper was currently running frantically around the center pillar console- or the C.P.C- checking readings and pressing seemingly random buttons. Rory was stumbling out of the kitchen, still wearing an apron and carrying a spatula. He looked up at her.
        "Maddy, what's going on?"
        "Wish I knew." she shouted back. "And how many times do I have to tell you-"
         She was cut off by the entire ship lurching to one side. Madison nearly fell off the railing of the upper library. Rory, meanwhile, fell over and got smacked in the face with his own spatula, then knocked his head on a door frame. The Keeper was the only one who managed to retain his balance. He darted around the C.P.C a few more times, slowly bringing the vessel back to it's proper aliment.
          "Everyone all right?" he called out when he finally stopped. 
          Rory groaned. "I've had worse."
          "I've been better." Madison frowned. "Keeper, where are we?"
          The Keeper sighed as he helped Rory to his feet. "I'm afraid I don't know, dear girl. We've crashed. That's about as far as my knowledge extends. I don't know why, and I don't know where." He grimaced. "I hate not knowing things, it puts me off my tea."
           "Crashed?" Madison's voice sounded frail and small, even to her. The Keeper climbed up the stairs to her, helping her up. 
           "It will be alright, Madison." He soothed. "There isn't any real problem unless the red lights come on."
            The mentioned lights chose that opportune moment to flick themselves on. Madison's throat felt tight. The next thing she knew, Rory was having her breathe into a paper bag. She reflected on how useful it was to have a son of the Greek god of medicine around.
            When she was calm again, the Keeper got down from the perch he had acquired on the book ladder. He had several books tucked under his arm. Madison couldn't make out the titles, but they looked thick and old, just the way the Keeper liked them. 
           "Are you quite well now, my dear?" the Keeper waited for her to nod. "Good. then let us go see where we've landed. The screen is shot, and I haven't the time to repair it at present. We shall have to do it manually."
           "Manually?" Rory questioned. "You mean, like, go outside?" 
           The Keeper looked at him as if he'd sprouted another head, or suggested outlawing tea. "Well, what did you think I meant?" he said indigently. "Send out dogs with trackers and a camera? We haven't the time or supplies for any such thing. Come," he said briskly "Let us take another step towards adventure!"

-------------------------------------------------------

    White, that was what was all that was outside. Blank, uninterrupted white. Nothing. 

     Madison wasn't sure if it was vertigo or butterflies in her stomach. There was a sense of wrongness all around. As if space itself had been ripped away and replaced with… a blank page. 

       "Oh dear," the Keeper murmured. "Oh dear, what's wrong dear girl?" 

      Madison turned to see him lightly stroking the frame of the T.A.R.D.I.F.

      Rory, meanwhile, looked as if he was going to be sick. He looked at his spatula as if wishing it was his gladius. 

      "Keeper?" Madison whimpered. "Where are we?" 

       The Keeper turned to her, looking a bit surprised she was still there. He frowned, creating a few more lines in his wrinkled brow. 

        "I'm afraid we've landed in the Inkspace, the space between books." He explained. "Normally we travel through this to from one book to another. Occasionally, we stall here. Typically when someone can't make up their mind of where they wish to go." He glanced at Madison, who blushed. "I didn't think it was possible to crash here. I thought we would just land in Huckleberry Finn or Inkheart or perhaps a nice story like Hunger Games, though I suppose that might not be a nice story to land in. Perhaps Little House on the…"

      "Keeper!" Rory snapped. He took a deep breath. "Okay. So, we're in the space in between books. Can we use the T.A.R.D.I.F to get out?"

        "I'm afraid that to do that I'd need to replace the ether wires, which can only really be found in A Never-ending Story. And we can't get there because…" he gestured to the now floating mirror. 

       Rory pinched the bridge of his nose. "Right." he sighed.
       "Um... I don't suppose we could walk there?" Madison asked.
       They both turned to her, incredulous expressions on their faces. 
       "Walk?" they both exclaimed.
       Madison hunched her shoulders a bit. "I just meant, well, we're already here, so couldn't we just walk to The Never-ending Story, get the e-ea-ether wires, then walk back? You must know the way, Keeper. And since the last story we visited was Mockingjay we can't be too far off."
        There was a pause while the two men considered this. They looked at each other, realizing how often they forgot how valuable Madison often was. Given the fact that both of them had a tendency to over-think things, Madison's under-thinking tendency often kept them from stepping to far from reality.
        "Well," Rory said finally. "Why couldn't we?"
        "There is a bit of radiation," the Keeper pondered. "But i don't think it's anything to worry about." he clapped his hands together. "All right then! Let's walk!"

Hello!

   Hello my lovely readers! Am I neglecting you again? Well, I won't be for long! I'm currently working on some more T.A.R.D.I.F for you. It's not much yet, and I'm worried that I'm pushing it a little too fast, but I'll try it anyway. If you think I am, pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasePLEASE tell me!
    Oh, I also might experiment with poetry a bit more. Not sure what direction that will take. A good one hopefully.
     That's about it. Stay tuned for more book reviews, story snippets, and possibly poems.
                                                                                 Insert clever sign-off here, Boo.

Hunger Games.

    First off, if you haven't read this series yet, and/or are about to; I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. There will be pain, grief, and sorrow. 

    On that happy note: let me just say, this trilogy ROCKED! A revolution, games where you have to kill each other, PLUS a love triangle!?! Aghhhhhhh! Inner fangirl has been unleashed! Muhahahahaha!

    Hehehe. Anywho: this is a good series if you like action, but be warned: there is a fair amount of gore, blood, and death. No one under 13 allowed. Other than that, it's a great trilogy. 

     As to the movies based if these books… as near as I've been able to tell, they are pretty faithful to the books. But we mustn't forget the golden rule of book based movies: "always read the book first!" You get better quality that way, and you can enjoy both the book and the movie a whole lot more. 

The Rithmatist

      I don't normally read steam-punk style books, not out of dislike, just not my kind of book. However, I fell in love with this book. 

      It's set in a sort of alternate-dimension America, where the United Isles are connected by train bridges. The U.I is protected from wild chalklings by Rithmatists, sorcerers who can put life into two dimensional chalk drawings.

       The book centers on Joel, who'd give anything to be a Rithmatist, and Melody, who'd give anything to stop being one. Their world is turned upside down when students from their school start to disappear...

        My review recipe for this book: 2 cups of adventure, 3 cups of danger, a dash of magic, and a sprinkling of mystery. 

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

     A young boy gets pulled away from his ordinary life and into a world of monsters and gods. Now he has to clear his name, before time runs out. 

    This is one of my favorite book series. It's full of adventure and magic, but isn't layer upon layer of whimsy. Well developed characters don't hurt either. 
       While this series is okay for children under 13, I wouldn't recommend the sequel series- Heroes of Olympus- to most younger readers, as it is a tad more graphic. But if you crave adventure (a love for Greek myths doesn't hurt either) you will love these books.

New Years

Okay, first off: I'M NOT READY FOR THE NEW YEAR!!!!!!! It feels like fall just ended yesterday, it CANNOT be January. 

…Okay I'm done. 

Second off; I've had a bit of ideas for T.A.R.D.I.F so I may write more for it. If I do, what books/movies would you like the characters to travel into? (What? I haven't read everything.)

Regardless, I will try to write more, whether it's T.A.R.D.I.F or not. Call it a resulotion.