April is here. If you visit the beach, take your trash home with you. This was written for National Geographics #Plasticplanet contest years ago. #PlasticOcean#seabirdcrisis
Also sharing this more for information and awareness than to support this particular charity. Summer is coming, just like when you visit the forest, Pack out your trash. #PLasticplanet#plasticocean
Dani's Luck: A short story about a Mermaid and a Leprechaun for St Patrick's Day.
#WriterReading.
Prompt: Shell, Coin, Classic cars, Beach, Emerald, Love, Loss.
Happy St Patrick’s day to all my Friends here and across the pond and in the rest of the world.
Dani’s Luck: A short story about a Mermaid and a Leprechaun for St Patrick’s Day.
Prompt: Shell, Coin, Classic cars, Beach, Emerald, Love, Loss.
#writerreading video on Youtube - https://youtu.be/5cpWr4q7lkk
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields and,
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Little bit of luck and love on this greenest and luckiest day of the year, Mama Magie
Running down the beach again, always running from something. This time it is pain, not noticing the bulge of brown fabric laying on the sand, she fell over it. For a moment she just laid there and cried, not noticing as the lump moved. The ocean wouldn’t mind her tears or care if she swam out to sea and never trod on land again. She fingered the shell pendant around her neck for a moment.
“Are you okay?”
She looked up into the most beautiful emerald green eyes she had ever seen set in a fringe of strawberry blond. “I... I’m...”
But the dam burst below her blue tourmaline irises and she sobbed out, “My brother died, he left me alone.”
The stranger wrapped her in his arms and held her gently, soothing her as she sobbed. She had not cried that hard since her parents died when she was eight. She lamented how he had been driving long haul up the coast to Alaska and was cut off by a drunk driver going up the interstate the wrong way. Rather than hit a family in a minivan, Don chose the concrete pillar. He was the best person she knew and now he was gone. Finally, the tide of her words receded and she was mortified that she had carried on so to a complete stranger.
His voice was so gentle, “I am so sorry you lost him like that. He sounds like he was an amazing person.”
“He was. I am so sorry, you can let go now. I’m not normally like this. I’m sorry I tripped on you. This is a No Camping Beach, I wasn’t expecting anyone to be laying on it this early in the morning. I didn’t mean to fall on top of you, I was just running cause that is what I do when I am stress out or upset, I run. I ran a 10K a week for three months after our grandmother died.” It all came out so fast, words as swift as her feet.
He laughed, it was a deep gentle sound. His accent was very thick. “Slow down, I can’t understand half of what you’re saying.”
“You sound Irish. Are you from Ireland? Or Scotland or somewhere where they still have the accent because it’s a pretty accent. I’ve never been there but I want to go, I want to go all over but I have only been a few places. I...” She stopped when he put a finger to her lips.
“Shush, I’m Liam, and yes, I am Irish.” He was amazed at how soft her lips felt under his fingertip. Her blue-green eyes with flecks of gold and sapphire went perfectly with her coppery hair that glinted with strands of honey and cranberry. The sprinkle of cinnamon freckles across her cheeks and nose made her adorable. “What’s your name?”
“Danielle-Ann...” she whispered breathlessly, before the tide of words came back in. “Danielle-Ann Adams but everyone calls me Dani, because who wants to say Dan-ielle-Ann every single time. I mean really, eleven letters is a mouthful. I don’t know what my parents were thinking when they decided to name me after both my grandparents but it took me forever to learn to write my full ne...” His finger silenced her again.
“Can a sleepy man get some tea or coffee before you use every word in the English language on him? And I’ll buy you a hot chocolate, you don’t need caffeine,” Liam demanded grumpily but her scowl made him chuckle.
She glared at him, no coffee the nerve of him! The she realized she was still sitting on his lap and he was still wrapped in a sleeping bag. The beaches were a popular place to sleep for free and often got visited by traveling young people out into the world, discovering it and themselves. She had always envied them but she couldn’t travel except by boat, the curse of her kind and she couldn’t afford the tickets. However, Don’s life insurance would take her anywhere she wanted to go. She blinked back tears as she thought she would give back every cent to have her brother again.
As if reading her thoughts, Liam hugged her again, and offered, “Can I buy you breakfast, sweetheart?”
“It’s Monday, the café is closed and so are most of the shops.” She remembered no car at the end of the Dunes road and wondered why he was sleeping here. It was warmer and out of the wind and such. “Why did you sleep on the beach instead of in your car? Do you have a car? You’re going to be wearing sand in your clothes and hair for a week. Our beaches have sugar sand, the finest grain in the country. It gets into everything and in place you’d never imagine, then it rubs the spot raw. It’s like once it gets inside something it never comes...”
He kissed to her shut her up but she finished as soon as his lips left hers.
“Out,” She stared at him shocked, breathing out the last word.
“So Dani, you were saying, there is no coffee or tea to be had in the whole town?” Liam asked, his eyes shining like mischief, the deep green glittered like jewels, swirling in a mesmerizing way.
Suddenly Dani knew what he was, her grandmother had told him of such creatures. “Are you a leprechaun, Irishman?” She asked eyeing him suspiciously and leaning back in his arms. “I thought you would be shorter.”
“If I am, I am a lucky leprechaun to get trampled by the most talkative sprite I have ever met.” He answered in a cavalier tone.
Dani scrambled out of his lap, laughing, “You sir, are very charming. Lucky to be charming or I’d have smacked you for kissing me. Can I make you breakfast and offer you a shower since there isn’t a hostel in town and the B&B is closed?”
Liam stood and shook out his bag, “Thank you, my lady. But it was a kiss or a pinch and I figured a kiss would be more to your liking. It’s St. Patty’s day and you’re not wearing a stitch of green.”
She giggled abashed at his flirty nature, then lied, “I’ll have you know, my underwear is green.”
“Then you’ll have to show me to prove it,” he grinned.
Her cheeks painted themselves pink like the inside of an abalone shell. “Okay, fine. You get a pass. But only because I don’t show my underwear to strange homeless men I stumble upon at the the beach,” Dani huffed.
“Don’t you mean stumble over?” He chuckled again when she blushed so red it looked like someone had rubbed her cheeks with fresh strawberries.
Before she could think of anything to retort, he offered, “Since you’re making breakfast, can I give you a ride back to your place?”
“How can you give me a ride? I didn’t see a car, unless you plan on carrying me and I would rather you didn’t do that because I get motion sickness very easily. I hate trains for that reason, and planes too because of the turb...”
His finger stopped the unending flow of words. “Please, I need strong coffee or black tea if you expect me to follow what your saying so fast. It’s like listening to a hummingbird talk.”
They just stood there for a long moment. Her looking up at him, him looking down at her and both wondering if she was going to bite his finger. Then she smiled and her eyes glittered a little more blue.
“Fine, I am a half mile back down the Dunes Road.”
Together they walked back toward the road. The warm golden sunlight seemed to pool around them, as he walked and her couldn’t help but smile as he looked at her out the corner of his eye. He was one lucky leprechaun.
Dani gasped at his car. The rich green paint glistened in the sun as if it had just been washed by a spring shower.
“Where did that come from?!?! You have a 1935 Buick coupe. That’s a beautiful car,” dhe said admiringly, then she eyed him suspiciously. “If you have a car, why were you sleeping on the beach? Can’t you afford a room?” She suddenly wondered if the car was stolen, was he a criminal. He could see her hesitation.
Liam rubbed the back of his neck and admitted sheepishly, “It was my, uh, grandfather’s. Every Shamrock Day back home, we would camp at the beach and wait for the selkies to swim in. Burn a bonfire and laugh and sing. I was feeling homesick so I drove down from school. I go to State Tech for engineering. I’m graduating in two months. Where do you go to college?”
She look down as he held the door for her. After he got in and started driving, she revealed, “I graduated from the Art Institute. I was home schooled and had a GED at sixteen. I took several courses and graduated with an art degree in photography. I paint too, and sell my landscape photographs and paintings online. Someday I want to travel all over the world and photograph every place.”
She pointed at a drive and old truck sat in the driveway. A 1965 Chevy that had seen better days but appeared to be well taken care of. “I have my grandfather’s car too.”
“How do you expect to travel if you get motion sickness?” He asked then was surprised when she opened the door for herself and got out before he could come around. She moved as fast as she talked.
“I can sail, but other ways of travelling... I haven’t figured out it all out. They have pills and patches that go behind the ear or under the arm but those just make me sleepy, and the wrist bands make my skin itch like crazy. I’m allergic to copper, well most metals really, can’t let it touch my skin or I rash. It is a weird freaking allergy to have. I have to make sure I have a layer of fabric between my skin and any fastener or I get a red spot and that’s why I only wear sports bras, no fasteners and they are way more comfortable than regular bras... Omigosh, I did not mean to talk about my bras again, just ignore that I said that part and pretend I said something else like do you want waffles or pancakes?”
Liam chortled at her embarrassment, “I think whatever you cook will be fine. I’ll just shower and I promise I didn’t understand anything you said about your undergarments because you talk so fast.”
Dani groaned and pointed to a door, “Just go, while I die of mortification and cook breakfast.”
Admiring how the whole of the house was decorated with shells from the beach, Liam wondered how he could get her to the fair isles. Then he noticed something sitting on her dresser. He picked up the coin and rubbed it’s familiar crest. Suddenly, he knew what she was. His heart pounded painfully for a moment, then he chuckled quietly as he went into the little bathroom decorated with lighthouses and mermaids.
Liam stepped out of the shower to the smell of bacon, eggs, and potato pancakes. Dressing quickly, he couldn’t wait to eat and listen to his beautiful companion. He had found something far better than gold at the end of the rainbow this morning. On the counter, was enough food for five people.
“Wow, you didn’t have to make all this?”
“Do you want Twinings Irish breakfast tea or coffee?” She smiled holding up a familiar green box.
“Tea please, Dani.” He heaped piles of food on his plate, because sleeping on the beach always left him ravenous and not just for food.
Dani tipped her head at his tone, knowing he was about to kiss her again. She held out her wrist, a green ribbon was tied around it. “I’m wearing green now.”
“That’s too bad because I was looking forward to kissing you again, or maybe you’d prefer a little pinch,” he flirted and she blushed.
“So tell me about where you’re from.” She asked as she nibbled her shrimp and avocado omelet.
He talked about Ireland and how he missed it and all its beauty while they ate and she listened intently.
“That sounds like such a lovely place to grow up. How could you ever leave?” She sounded enchanted.
“I left for school, and to find something I lost. And life is just too short to not live it.” Liam sipped his tea, “Don’t you think? I think that we are all looking for a piece of something we lost.”
“Maybe” Taking his plate, she turned away to place the dishes in the sink. Thinking about what he said, made her realize life was so unexpected, it could be short or long. One never knew. She was tired of being careful all the time. Of never straying too far from the sea. Of fearing the tales of nets hidden in every wave. She needed to stop hiding behind her bubbly façade and really enjoy her life without worry, if only for a day.
Grinning she turned back to Liam, he was looking at her like a starving man looks at cake. Dani very slowly pulled the long strand of green until it was no longer tied around her wrist, his eye narrowed watching the silk flutter to the floor.
“Opps, it fell off.”
“So it did.”
Late that afternoon, she waved as he drove off into the the mixture of sun and showers that came every day at this time. A rainbow seemed to bow down and touch the road a head of him. He drove into it and was gone. She blinked several times trying to dispel the optical illusion. Then shrugged it away, shutting the door as the rain came in earnest. She had his address and hickies on her entire body to prove he enjoyed her company. He accepted the shell necklace she offered.
Her hand reached up to rub the one on back of her neck, the raised mark felt almost like a four leaf clover. When she lifted her hair, she used a handmirror to look in the wall mirror. She was shocked to see a dark green and perfectly formed four leaf clover. It looked like a tattoo.
There was the sound on her coin dropping off her dresser. Hurrying into the bedroom, Dani watched the gold coin spinning on the floor and rolling to her feet. With a trembling hand, she picked it up. She had found it as a young mermaid at a place where a rainbow touched the edge of the sea and the shore. It was engraved with some sort of crest on one side and a weird language on the other that she had never found a translation for.
Rubbing her thumb over the script, the letters turned to English, and Dani giggled. Liam was a leprechaun and he knew she was a mermaid.
Watching the news, the
politician’s heart ached as his memories heard her laughter again and felt the
warmth of those autumn afternoons. It was the only time of solace he’d known
since his desperate quest and voluntary exile began. He had not known she
painted it.
“The silver-framed watercolor
painting of copper beech trees by a lake with a man and a boy fishing was found
in the wall of the allegedly haunted, historic Arsenal Grove Manor. Time has
not seemed to affect the condition of the lost masterpiece as the manner of its
storage limited its exposure to air and light. According to M.O.M.A. chief
preservationist…”
Carson scowled as a closeup
detail of the painting was shown and the embellished history of the home built
on the waypoint was given. Putting on his coat and broccoli-shaped cufflinks,
he sighed again, remembering those afternoons.
“Dad, did you see?”
“Yes. We’ll have to get it
declared a fake and destroyed.”
“But Mom left it for us.”
“We have been through this,
Icarus. They can’t find us if we are going to change things. The future isn’t
fixed; the Council of Relativity knows this, and they have my research. If they
see that painting, they will know when and where we were. We can’t warn
ourselves.”
“Don’t you mean so you can
save the world and prove your father wrong?” His petulant, defiant look
returned, accusing, “I’m just your luggage.”
“Your mother…”
“They didn’t find us then. It
was a car accident.”
~~~
The spectacle of another green
campaign event was too much after seeing his mother’s painting on the news.
That his father wanted it destroyed bothered him on the deepest level, despite
the risk it posed. Grieving, Icarus left. Waiting at the crosswalk, his
attention fell on a dandelion growing in the crack between the curb and the
pavement. Its cheerful yellow head bobbed in the wake of passing cars huffing
out the fumes choking the world.
A bumble bee landed on the
precarious perch, hanging on to it like a child riding one of the horses from
the Central Park carousel. Looking past Battery Park, he could see the Hudson
River on the other side of the buildings. One day, icebergs would be floating
there with ash-tainted snowflakes in the air instead of bees skimming above the
grass. It was all so beautiful and would become so terrible. One well-meant
mistake would start the chain of events ending in an extinction level event.
The bumble bee flitted toward the park. He held his breath, watching it
navigate the busy traffic to safety. One more day for the bug that didn’t end
up on a windshield.
That’s all Earth was to the
Council, a bug on the windshield of humanity’s arrogance. When his father found
the way through time, they refused his suggestion, but he went anyway. He found
and lost love. Now Icarus was doomed to be dragged through time with Carson. He
would have thought his father mad, but he’d seen the robotic implants like
those on the one who almost found them the day his mother ran a stop sign. The
world was fated to die, and the Council of Relativity would let it, but his
father was slowly affecting changes in the flow of events, like putting stones
in a rushing river. In the close future, were those who resisted fate and
governmental edicts. They believed the Martian colonies were enough; they
wouldn’t be. His father forced the memories of the future events beyond them
all on Icarus, because it would be his job to finish his father’s work if...
Candlelit hopeless whispered
it’s almost too late.
Fumbling to type on his
phone’s keyboard, the buzz of the crosswalk prompted him to step off the curb,
but a hand pulled him back before he ended up another bug on the bumper of the
bus.
“Thank you. You saved me,” he
stammered to the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. “I’m Ike. I owe you my
life.”
“You do.” She grinned,
“Andromeda, but you can call me Andy. You shouldn’t text and walk.”
“I wasn’t. I was writing a
poem,” he admitted.
“Oh, you’re a poet, I’ve never
dated a poet before.” Tossing her long dark curls, she asked, “Would you like
to go for coffee?”
“I don’t drink coffee, it’s
bad for…” He stopped, suddenly embarrassed by his father’s environmental
rhetoric coming out of his mouth.
“For the environment, I’ve
heard, but it still tastes good.”
~~~
With his neighbor’s party
starting early, Ike couldn’t write, so he decided to surprise his girlfriend.
Juggling cups and keys, he hesitated before putting his ear to her door. It sounded
like a dentist’s office, oddly but terrifyingly familiar. Hand shaking, he
turned the key then went in. Setting her latte by her cactus and succulent
garden, he tiptoed to the loft stairs. The hum ceased suddenly then the access
door to the roof slammed. He hurried to catch up. The chandelier crystals
hanging from her giant palm plant splayed whimsical rainbow patches on the
walls, mocking his fear.
On the roof, he crept between
planters of beets and chard. He’d never known anyone who took rooftop gardening
as seriously as Andy. The hanging tomato plants, and corn stalks hid him from
the man arguing with her. The familiar stranger’s arms glowed with robotic
implants like Ike’s father’s.
“Andromeda, we have given you
a year. It is time to come home. We are ending this problem today. Our
ancestors sealed our planet’s fate generations ago.”
“I need more time. Dr. Carson
has a public speaking engagement at the U.N.,” Andy pled, “Just give me until
Saturday.”
“We saw the Arsenal Grove
painting. Where’s the boy?”
“Dead in an accident with his mother,” she
lied.
Nodding, the man turned toward
the fiery explosion above the cityscape horizon. Andy noticed Ike peeking at
her.
She mouthed; ‘I love you.
Carry on.’
Weird light glowed like an
aurora around them as they vanished.
~~~~~~~
LINKS
Flash Fiction February 12 Hour Live Stream
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KZTzJF6nfY&t=40376s
Natalie Locke
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFQ8n0Je4hBDWoqHn-Fy5sg
Chandra Arthur
https://www.youtube.com/c/ChandraArthur/featured
Intro-outro
Music: Elektronomia - Collide
Watch: https://youtu.be/bWGhAfN9PAs
Stream: https://spoti.fi/3nZ4A3y
#WIPChat#Worldbuilding Part 1
Question 1 :
Where do you start building your world? A character, a place, or a scene?
White Room Syndrome refers to writing that lacks grounding in physical reality. It is simply a stream of consciousness that lacks basic descriptions of scene settings, the five senses, and the world environment. The story might as well be taking place in a white room.
Question 2: How far do you go when world building? Maps, customs, religions, local color, weather?
Worldbuilding can be overwhelming so Start Simple. Write a tour guide brochure. A quick guide to the highlights of the world you are writing in.
FYI: The WIP world is the total universe of a WIP; all the places and all the things. A Scene is the action event or what is happening in a specific setting. The Setting is the “local” place or environment or where an action or interaction or event is happening; it can be a room, a building, a place. What is around your character?
Question 3: How much research do you do and what resources to you use? Down the rabbit hole or “this is enough, I’d visit there.”?
Five simple Worldbuilding things just for you the writer to start with:
1. Where is your character mostly? Work? School? Home?
2. Describe how that place look, smell, feel to the Character.
3. Describe the climate and landscape around the place
4. Describe what the Character wears, eats, drinks...
5. What do they do, think, fear, dream?
Question 4: What do you hate most about world building?
Question 5 : What do you love most about world building?
Question 6: So, you are writing along in your amazing new world and there’s an earthquake. How do you deal with world-building caused plot holes?
Do not let the worldbuilding plotholes become a dam across your river of creativity and turn into Wri
Writing the Tree https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmAhyCofirA&t=22s
Part 2: They, the people and Culture 101… A quick look at Who are you, who, who…
Question 7 : When you meet your characters, do you know them or get to know them? Do you create a set of personalities traits? Do they have obsessions, phobias, insecurities, quirks?
Question 8 : Is your world going to have a one base culture or many cultures overlapping and interacting?
Question 9: How many forms of religions or spiritual beliefs do they have? Do they pray, meditate, make sacrifices or give offerings? Is it required or voluntary?
Question 10: Religious or civil holidays: How do they party? And how do different groups feel about these things?
Question 11: Every culture as something it sees as “normal” that can be shocking to outsiders. This gives a world a depth. What are your Cultural quirks and taboos?
Question 12
How do your families, clans, classes, sects, ranks, etc. interact and relate? Do they help each other or pull rank on each other? Do royals and commoners/interact in positive or negative? Are there those who resent or are trying to change how people interact?
Question 13:
Languages and Colloquialisms: “Ya gotta have slang man… y’all cain’t go without cursin’ or prayin’ or just sayin’, don’t ya know?”
#WIPChat#Worldbuilding Part 3 The How and What of The Environment, Magic, and Technology of Hard and Soft Systems
Question 14 If you are writing a sci fi, do you use Hard or Soft Technology System? What can your world’s technology do?
Question 15 Are there groups with more or less tech? Are there biases against Tech or those without it?
Question 16 If you are writing fantasy, do you use Hard or Soft Magic Systems? What are the rules and consequences of Magic?
Question 17
Are their groups with more or less magic? Are there biases against Magic or those without it?
Are there enchanted items or magical creatures in your world?
Question 18 Hard Mapping or Fluid world - How is your world laid out in the micro and macro? Do you make a map? Or do you explore as you go?
Question 19
How detailed so you make world layout? Variety of landscapes? Towns or cities? Home, churches, government, or business buildings? Do you have Ships or Airships or Spaceships?
Question 20
Community planning is always a thing when building a world with different terrains. Are you communities separated or united based on environment and terrain, or class? How many different jobs do the places in your world require?
Question 21
How does the climate and terrain, or natural and unnatural disasters affect your characters and story plot?
A/N: I noticed on the replay I forgot to say Arborea's drought was caused by weather manipulation technology hence it being an unnatural disaster.
World Anvil https://www.worldanvil.com/
Intro/outro music
Music: Elektronomia - Collide
Watch: https://youtu.be/bWGhAfN9PAs
Stream: https://spoti.fi/3nZ4A3y
Olympic diver Camille Wallace and her sister Willamina learn the ‘truth
about the love and devotion of the Hightower men’ only two nights before
Willamina’s wedding through their cloud account shared with Mina’s fiancé, and
328 images of a bachelor party featuring their doppelgangers ‘entertaining’
Kent and Kyle. Tragedy followed.
Fifteen years later, can Camille and Kyle clear the water between them
and start over, or is Ice Cold Coach Wally too stubborn to forgive? Did those
pictures justify the secret Camille kept and what it costed Kyle?
They say, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” but what if those words
were based on a lie told by a desperate brother beholding to a murderous
gangster? How can two people overcome heartache when the last decade and a half
of suffering were pointless?
Sneak Peek!
Chapter 1
Sometimes the happiest dreams lead to the most
heartbreaking moments.
Two years after the Summer Olympics...
Willamina
Wallace paced in her bathroom, it was 11:30 at night and she had woken up from
a wonderful dream, driven to an all-night pharmacy, and rushed home. Her sister’s
phone went to voicemail, so she dialed it again and again until Camille
answered.
“Somebody
better be dead, sis. I have a seven to seven at the call center tomorrow,”
Camille grumbled.
“I
had a dream... an amazing dream. I think I’m pregnant with twins, I can’t wait
to tell Kent!” Willamina burst out excitedly, then giggled as she heard her
sister fall out of bed.
“Wait,
what? Start over. Did you see a doctor about this? When did you find out you
were pregnant?” Camille scrambled up off the floor.
Mina
laughed. “Calm down, Hurricane Camille. I told you, silly, I had a dream, and I
saw twin divers competing. They looked just like us except they had Kent’s blue
eyes and dark hair. They were so pretty and so graceful. I was so happy
watching them dive.”
“Mina,
have you even taken a pregnancy test?” Camille demanded tiredly.
“I
am waiting on one now, Cami. Don’t be so grumpy. You need to accept when Kyle asks
you to marry him, so we can be sisters and sisters-in-law and have our babies
at the same time.”
“I
told you, Mina. It was a one-time thing; it won’t happen again.”
“Don’t
you mean two-time thing that won’t happen again and again?” Mina giggled because
she could practically hear her sister blushing as Cami stammered in denial
while she interrupted, “He really likes you. He asks Kent about you all the
time. Kent says Kyle hasn’t looked at a girl since Sophia, and honestly, Kent
and Kris were worried he had switched teams or decided to become a monk or something
and was afraid to tell them before Cancun.”
“He
hasn’t switched teams, trust me. But I just don’t know if I can trust him, I
mean what if he’s a player like Kris or worse, what if he… is like Ron,”
Camille almost whispered the last three words.
Mina
got quiet for a moment, “You gotta let it go, Cami, they all went to jail for
what they did to you and Violet. They won’t get out for a long time. It’s time
to take a chance on a guy who worships you. He’s...”
“I
am not having this conversation with you again,” Cami said in a dead voice.
“Well,
too bad! I have your wedding planned already. I got twenty more seconds and I
don’t want my sister to end up a spinster! If you could get married and
pregnant right away, then we could have our own synchronized swim team,” Mina
snickered, “And we could call them the blue
butterfly-ettes.”
“Have
you been drinking? Cause that’s bad for the baby,” Cami snarked.
“Babies!
I dreamed it was twins,” Mina reminded.
“Just
read the damn test,” Cami begged.
“Okay,
two lines but one is kinda fuzzy... Is that a yes or a no?” Mina was giggling
as she turned the test around trying to figure out if it was two lines.
“Oh
my gosh, send me a picture,” she insisted, almost screaming out her happiness
at the thought of being an aunt.
Cami
was grateful her job gave her a three-phone plan with unlimited sharing and
automatic cloud storage. A perk she shared with her sister and her sister’s
fiancé Kent, who, unlike his younger brother, was trying to make his way
through graduate architecture school without relying on the family money.
Cami
facepalmed as she heard the call drop. Her sister was the worst with
technology. If Mina was pregnant, Cami decided she was calling in tomorrow to
go baby shopping. She waited and waited, but the picture didn’t come. Groaning,
she got up and went to her laptop. If Mina took the picture before her phone
died, it would be on their cloud account. Her fingers flew over the keys. Leaving
it as her slow internet loaded, she made cocoa while she tried to call her
sister’s phone.
Finally,
Cami dialed the landline, “Your phone’s dead again, isn’t it? Willow tree, you
gotta plug it in every day.” A strange, muffled noise sounded like sobbing.
Cami had a momentary panic. “Sis, what’s wrong? Willamina, talk to me, are you
hurt? Do I need to call 9-1-1?”
“I...
I logged into the cloud to email you the picture and... And Kent is...” More
sobbing made the rest of her words unintelligible.
Cami
rushed back to her computer and choked on her own heart as it broke. Falling
and shattering her arm poolside had been painful, but not as painful as what
she was seeing on her laptop. Cami instantly regretted letting herself fall in
love with Kyle Hightower when she knew his youngest brother Kris’s reputation
for being a player on campus. Her sister was sobbing about Kent wouldn’t do
this to her, but the images were of the Hightower brothers, the men they loved,
at a topless club, being ‘attended to’ by several women, two of whom looked
remarkably like the sisters. The shock wore off as it was replaced by an icy
cold rage, a blizzard formed in Camille’s heart.
“That
son of a... I... how could he? Oh, I’ll kill him! Both of them! I’ll cut them
into bait. I’ll drop them in the Gulf for the blue crabs,” Cami ranted, biting
off the urge to spew profanities because her aunt had raised her with the strict
manners that ladies didn’t cuss.
Another
set of images populated, and Mina choked out, “Oh Gawd, I think... I... I’m
going to be sick.”
The
anguished voice of her sister’s misery dragged Camille back from the high of
her rage. “Mina, log off. Log off now. It’s not good for the baby for you to be
so stressed. I want you to go to the Ridgeline and stay with Beau and Gramma
and Grandpa. I’ll handle the wedding cancel.” Nothing happened so Cami snapped
at her, “Willamina Grace Wallace, I said log off! I can still see your icon.
Look, sis, we’ve seen enough, we know the truth. You need to think about the
baby.”
Camille
watched her sister’s icon go offline, while she listened to Mina sob about how
Kent wasn’t like Kris; he had never once gone to a place like that. Kent and
his older brother, Kyle, had promised them both it was just going to be cards
and cigars and a few shows for the bachelor party, not strippers.
“Right...
shows,” Cami thought bitterly.
More
images appeared every few minutes. Cami felt sick as she noticed the girl who
looked remarkably like Mina giving Kent a lap dance. He was staring at her with
glazed adoring eyes as his hands roamed all over her. Over his shoulder, she
could see Kyle with a woman who had a blue butterfly painted on her abdomen
between her breast and her navel and knew the woman was supposed to be her doppelganger
as Cami unconsciously crossed her arms over the tattoo that rested between her
breasts.
In
her memories, Kyle seemed so sincere in his attention and Cami believed in his
affection and honesty. Believed it enough that he was the first man she had
willingly given herself to. They texted and called for two months. At the
rehearsal dinner, she longed for the practice wedding to be over, so she could
be in his arms. She wore a stretch velvet dress that showed off her curves and
her cleavage, but most of all, her butterfly tattoo. Neither slept that night,
and he kissed her tenderly before taking a cab back to his hotel. It was the
last time she saw him before he flew out with his brothers for Kent’s bachelor
party. Cami shook herself, loathing that she had ever let him touch her tattoo.
Seeing they hired strippers to pretend to be her and her sister for the
bachelor party made her want to vomit. Enraged, she sent Kyle a text message.
‘We can see you boys.’
Two
images later, she watched him looking at his phone. In the next image, he was
back cupping the breast of the stripper who looked like her. She forced herself
to focus on her crying, emotional sister.
“Mina
honey, you need to go to sleep. You’re pregnant and the baby will need for you
to be rested.”
“Cami,
what am I going to do?” her sister’s voice wavered pitifully.
“You
are not going to worry; I have over half a million in sponsor money put back. I’ve
never touched it. We don’t need the Hightowers or their money. We don’t need
anything from them, you and me, just like it has been since mom and dad died,”
Camille tried to sound calm and strong, but inside she was shattering as an
image of Kyle with his face buried in the stripper’s cleavage popped up.
“You
and me and baby makes three?” Mina asked timidly, quoting a nursery rhyme.
“That’s
right, willow tree, only now we’re gonna have to find you a new nickname; you
won’t be stick-thin anymore,” Cam tried to make light as her soul hemorrhaged.
“What
are they doing now?” Mina whispered in a tiny voice.
Cami
couldn’t lie to her sister. She never lied to anyone. She didn’t have that
particular ability because her eyes or face gave her away. She couldn’t lie
over the phone to her sister because her voice would give her away. “They are
still getting lap dances and booby facials.”
Mina
choked on a sob, “I’m going to take a shower and go to bed. Don’t watch anymore,
Cami. Just... It’s better... better that it’s before the wedding.”
“I
am sending you a ticket to Colorado, just print it out, and take a taxi to the
airport. I’ll have Beau pick you up. He is supposed to be flying out tomorrow
afternoon with Gramma and Grandpa anyway. I’ll… I’ll take care of them and the
wedding cancel… I love you, Willamina.”
“I
love you, Camille. Don’t do anything too crazy with your hurricane temper. Don’t
hurt them,” Mina begged. Their grandfather always said Camille’s temper was as
bad as the hurricane she was named after.
“Fine,
I won’t harm a hair on their heads, I promise,” Cami vowed, “I’ll just show
them that a picture is worth a thousand words, and I am really good with words.”
After
her sister hung up, Cami stayed online to make sure Mina didn’t log back in as
she blamed herself for her sister’s entanglement with the middle Hightower
brother.
A
slip poolside during training less than a year after her bronze medals left her
with a broken arm, concussion, and unable to dive for months so she got a job
at a cellphone carrier call center to pay her bills. When she finally got
through rehab, she had missed the Nationals and the Olympic tryouts. It was a
crushing blow to her spirit and dreams. It would be another semester before she
could try to get her spot back, so she was studying oceanography, biology, and
teaching swimming and water exercise classes at the Houston YMCA. The three
days a week she didn’t have classes, she worked at the call center. It was a
job she hated but it gave her extra cash while she was in school. Her sister
started dating Kent while Cami was in the hospital and soon it was love. Kent
was a nice guy but driven to succeed, and so good for her sister; he was the
rushing river to her calm willow tree. They were the only perfect couple
Camille had ever seen besides their grandparents in Colorado. Fairytales didn’t
happen anymore, but Mina and Kent seemed like the one-in-a-million and in two
days, they were supposed to be having a grand wedding suitable for their love
story, but that fairytale was over now. Cami had hundreds of pictures of the
truth of the love and devotion Kent promised to give only her sister; the same happily
ever after Kyle had promised Cami just two nights ago.
Watching
the pictures appearing, she saw that Kent’s bachelor party went way beyond a
few lap dances and by 4 AM Central Time in Texas, everything Cami had felt for
Kyle was as cold as the water in Antarctica. She called their cousin to leave a
voice mail about the change of plans.
It
was 3 AM Mountain Time, but Beau answered on the third ring, “Cami? Are you
okay?”
“I’m
sorry I woke you. The wedding is off. Kent cheated on Mina, log onto the family
cloud account, but don’t show Grandpa or Gramma.”
In
moments, she got the response she was expecting. Beau was more like a big
brother than a cousin. They spent a year together on their grandfather’s ranch
in Colorado after both sets of their parents died in a small plane crash. Then
Mina and Cami went to Texas to live with their mother’s much older sister so
they could continue diving.
“I
will kill him! I will feed him to the bears!” Beau raged. He had always been
overprotective of the quieter, gentler Willamina. It sounded like his fist was
pounding on the bedside table.
“Easy
Beau, Mina is flying out to Durango tomorrow; I emailed you a copy of her
itinerary. I am putting her on a plane outta here while I deal with this mess.
The Hightowers screwed over the wrong set of sisters,” Camille declared coldly.
“I’ll
be there, tell her I’ll be there.”
“There’s
one more thing, scroll back to midnight to the last thing Mina uploaded.” Cami
held the phone away from her ear and waited for him to see the pregnancy test.
“I
will feed him alive! To! The! Coyotes!” Beau roared, then ranted, “Oh Kent is
so dead! I liked him but now... Wait, is that Kyle too? Those… those…”
“I
know, Beau, but please let me handle this. Sis needs you to be strong for her
till I can get there. I love you, big bear.”
“I
love you too, cliff jumper. But I swear, if they set foot on our ranch, gawd in
heaven won’t be able to find their bodies,” Beau vowed vehemently.
“I
know and I’ll help you bury them, but right now, we gotta focus on Mina and the
baby.” Cami swallowed hard, remembering Mina’s broken sobs.
“Be
as vicious as you can, you make them pay, Cami, humiliate them and I’ll keep
sis safe.” He hung up without saying goodbye. Beau was funny that way, he never
said goodbye.
She
texted Mina that Beau would get her on the other end of her flight. An
immediate ’thanks’ had
Cami worrying about her sister getting enough rest. Somehow, she knew Mina
spent the night lying awake and crying, just like she had. It was a sister
thing, a twin thing, even though they weren’t twins in the traditional way.
Camille and Willamina were Irish twins; sisters who were born only eleven months
apart. Cami knew what her sister was thinking as the sun lightened the horizon
and texted her.
‘He’s not worth it. Get some rest
before you call the taxi.’
