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Tag Archives: fiction

Secret Admirer (fiction)

02 Monday Jan 2023

Posted by crashdlanding in Fiction, Fiction Friday

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crash landing, crashdlanding, fiction, Fiction Friday, secret admirer, Valentine’s

This is a continuation of a Fiction Friday Post. This is a continuing story. It will be updated at a Valentine’s Day feature throughout the month. It will be updated infrequently. Below is a link to the most recently written part. The link will be updated with each new part.

Skip to most recent part

Part One

Dena stared at the Valentine’s Day decorations that Cupid must have vomited onto the walls of her office. The resident Perky Patty in the office had, as she does every holiday, decorated every possible shared space with the traditional Valentines symbols and imagery. Hearts and fat winged babies with a bow and arrows, more hearts, roses. All these in varying shades of red, pink, and white.

Most of her coworkers had been drawn into the holiday decor game, as well. She could look over the walls of her cubicle in any direction and see pops of red or pink here or there, where it wasn’t before.

Dena Ritter hated Valentine’s Day.

Okay, that was perhaps a little harsh. It was more like she was quietly jealous of people who had someone to celebrate it with. She herself was hopelessly single and had been since her college boyfriend broke up with her so he could backpack across Europe with no strings attached. Even Patty, that was her actual name after all, a late 40s divorcee celebrated with her cats. The woman had seasonal pictures taken with her cats regularly.

Dena sighed as she took one last look around the room, and got back to work.

A few hours later, just as everyone was wrapping up their lunch, which Dena took in her cubicle, Patty walked by, knocking on the padded wall of Dena’s cubical.

“Hi, Dena! How are ya?” Perky Patty cheerfully asked.

“I’m good, Patty.” Dena responded, looking up from her computer screen. “How are you?” Like most of their coworkers Dena found Patty mildly annoying but not enough to be unkind. She had her “a little too much” moments, but it was tolerable most of the time.

“Great! I’m so glad!” She exclaimed, giving Dena’s forearm a quick pat. “I didn’t see ya in the break room, so I thought I’d come by and give you this.” She handed her a sheet of copy paper. “It’s the list of activities for the week of Valentine’s Day! It’s going to be so much fun!” She did a little clapping motion with her small hands. “And there’s a potluck on the 14th! Isn’t that lovely?”

Dena smiled at Patty, “That’ll be great, it’s gonna be a fun week!” She exclaimed, hoping the sarcasm was hidden well enough.

“It sure is!” Patty agreed. “Well, I’ll let ya get back to your work, then.” They smiled politely at each other one last time and Patty turned and left.

Before she put the sheet down she glanced over it. Cupcakes one day, cookies another. One day had “chocolate covered strawberries or chocolate fountain TBD” written on it.

“Strawberries seem more sanitary but a fountain seems nice.” She thought to herself. “Might as well embrace Valentines with coworkers, they’re really all I’ve got.”

Three hours later it was time to head home, and Dena packed up and headed out. She ended up in the elevator with Patty and a few other coworkers, including the snobby blonde who hated everything but her phone, and the quiet awkward guy who worked in IT that didn’t talk to anyone unless their computer was broken and he couldn’t fix it remotely.

For the few minutes it took the elevator to reach the ground floor where the parking garage was located, no one really spoke, and Patty hummed cheerfully to the elevator music. Just before the doors opened, Patty turned to the others and wished even a lovely evening then walked away.

Dena, who always waited to be last because she didn’t want to get in anyone’s way, stood waiting for her turn, when awkward guy motioned for her to go.

“Oh no,” she said, “you go ahead.”

He motioned for her to go again, and she again insisted he go. After their back and forth lasted longer than necessary, Dena was too tired to not get frustrated and give up. She sighed exasperatedly and walked off the elevator. Walking away quickly she just barely caught him saying, “Have a good night.” She turned around to return the sentiment but she saw him walking quickly in the opposite direction.

She shrugged, “whatever” then walked to her car. When she finally got to it she pushed the button on Her key fob to unlock it and went to step inside, when she saw something tucked under the wiper blade. She grabbed it, her first thought being a flyer for one thing or another that she’ll just toss later.

When she looked closer at it after starting her car and locking her doors, she noticed it was an envelope. Nothing on the outside, front or back. She was slowly becoming the only car in the garage, which made her look uncomfortable so she pulled out and drove home.

She made it home to her empty apartment, which did not allow pets if any sort, and took off her shoes. After dropping all of her belongings where she’d reach them in the morning, she flopped down on her couch and opened the envelope.


Part Two

Inside the envelope was a gift card. It was for the coffee shop she passed every day on her drive to work. “Hmm, that’s odd.” She flipped it over to look at the back, as if some explanation for it would be there.

Still very confused, she picked up the envelope again, and saw nothing written on either side. She looked inside, and she saw she’d missed a small piece of paper when she removed the gift card.

“You look in the window every morning but never go in.” It read. “Maybe you should go in next time.” In the back it was signed, “Your Secret Admirer”.

She was quiet for a long moment, but finally spoke out loud in her empty apartment. “Somebody is watching me on my way to work?”

Just thinking of the idea made her uncomfortable. It was beside the fact that she did look in the window daily. The shop was right on the corner and there was a stop light she always got caught in. She never went in because she never had time. She glanced at the gift card again. It didn’t even have an amount written on it or the slip of paper to tell her it even had anything on it.

She put the card aside and tried to forget it while she prepared a quick dinner for one, and watched whatever random TV movie she could find.

The next day, on her way to work, she made a point to not look into the window of the coffee shop, she decided she didn’t really like coffee or fresh baked pastries anyway. When she stepped foot off the elevator and into her floor, she was, as usual, stunned by the sheer number of valentines hearts around the room. She weaved her way around people and cubicles to find hers, and prepared to start her day.

She was getting her notepad and pens out of her desk drawer when a throat cleared loudly behind her. She turned to see Patty standing there, a wide grin on her petite face.

“Did you notice?” She asked Dena, almost shaking with delight.

“Notice?” Dena asked, unsure.

“The ceiling, dear! She exclaimed, gesturing upward. There were now tiny hearts hanging from the ceiling tiles. “I asked the janitors to hang them for me last night!”

“Wow,” Dena said, “I see them now.” She looked, there had to be at least a hundred. “They must have had fun with that!” The sarcasm was a little thick, she wondered if Dena would notice.

Oh, Pshaw.” She said. Then she leaned in and whispered. “I bribed them with the promise of my special snickerdoodles!” she giggled like a school girl at herself.

“I bet you did,” Dena wanted to say. “Well, I’m sure they will know you appreciate their hard work.”

“The cookies are waiting on them in my file cabinet!” She giggled slyly. “I have extras if you wanna stop by later.”

“Oh, thanks, but I think I’ll resist this time.”

“Well alright. You know where I’m at if you change your mind.”

Patty walked away and Dena logged in on her computer to begin her work day. She opens a drawer to remove a file she was working in yesterday, and on top was an envelope.

“Well,” she thought nervously. “I know it’s someone in this office. Or at least the building.” She hesitated, wondering if this mystery person was watching her now. She looked up, trying to seem less like she’s looking for an assassin, and glanced around the office as best she could.

“If I can’t see them, they can’t see me.” She told herself, hoping it wasn’t a lie. She grabbed the end of the file, lifting out of the drawer and allowing the card to slide off and into the empty drawer.

Shutting the drawer she laid the folder on the desk and opened it up and got to work, hoping she’d forget about it quickly.

—TBC—


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Secret Admirer Continued (fiction)

31 Saturday Dec 2022

Posted by crashdlanding in Fiction, Fiction Friday

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crash landing, crashdlanding, fiction, Fiction Friday, secret admirer, Valentine’s

This is a continuation of yesterday’s Friday Fiction post

I was falling asleep. My bad. Honestly at one point I fell asleep with the phone in my hand and dreamed I finished the first part 🤦‍♀️. Ive made some corrections induced by lack of sleep and pure exhaustion. I’m working on trying to figure out how to create a link within the post to send you right to the newest bit. Otherwise, under the divider.

Dena stared at the Valentine’s Day decorations that Cupid must have vomited onto the walls of her office. The resident Perky Patty in the office had, as she does every holiday, decorated every possible shared space with the traditional Valentines symbols and imagery. Hearts and fat winged babies with a bow and arrows, more hearts, roses. All these in varying shades of red, pink, and white.

Most of her coworkers had been drawn into the holiday decor game, as well. She could look over the walls of her cubicle in any direction and see pops of red or pink here or there, where it wasn’t before.

Dena Ritter hated Valentine’s Day.

Okay, that was perhaps a little harsh. It was more like she was quietly jealous of people who had someone to celebrate it with. She herself was hopelessly single and had been since her college boyfriend broke up with her so he could backpack across Europe with no strings attached. Even Patty, that was her actual name after all, a late 40s divorcee celebrated with her cats. The woman had seasonal pictures taken with her cats regularly.

Dena sighed as she took one last look around the room, and got back to work.

A few hours later, just as everyone was wrapping up their lunch, which Dena took in her cubicle, Patty walked by, knocking on the padded wall of Dena’s cubical.

“Hi, Dena! How are ya?” Perky Patty cheerfully asked.

“I’m good, Patty.” Dena responded, looking up from her computer screen. “How are you?” Like most of their coworkers Dena found Patty mildly annoying but not enough to be unkind. She had her “a little too much” moments, but it was tolerable most of the time.

“Great! I’m so glad!” She exclaimed, giving Dena’s forearm a quick pat. “I didn’t see ya in the break room, so I thought I’d come by and give you this.” She handed her a sheet of copy paper. “It’s the list of activities for the week of Valentine’s Day! It’s going to be so much fun!” She did a little clapping motion with her small hands. “And there’s a potluck on the 14th! Isn’t that lovely?”

Dena smiled at Patty, “That’ll be great, it’s gonna be a fun week!” She exclaimed, hoping the sarcasm was hidden well enough.

“It sure is!” Patty agreed. “Well, I’ll let ya get back to your work, then.” They smiled politely at each other one last time and Patty turned and left.

Before she put the sheet down she glanced over it. Cupcakes one day, cookies another. One day had “chocolate covered strawberries or chocolate fountain TBD” written on it.

“Strawberries seem more sanitary but a fountain seems nice.” She thought to herself. “Might as well embrace Valentines with coworkers, they’re really all I’ve got.”

Three hours later it was time to head home, and Dena packed up and headed out. She ended up in the elevator with Patty and a few other coworkers, including the snobby blonde who hated everything but her phone, and the quiet awkward guy who worked in IT that didn’t talk to anyone unless their computer was broken and he couldn’t fix it remotely.

For the few minutes it took the elevator to reach the ground floor where the parking garage was located, no one really spoke, and Patty hummed cheerfully to the elevator music. Just before the doors opened, Patty turned to the others and wished even a lovely evening then walked away.

Dena, who always waited to be last because she didn’t want to get in anyone’s way, stood waiting for her turn, when awkward guy motioned for her to go.

“Oh no,” she said, “you go ahead.”

He motioned for her to go again, and she again insisted he go. After their back and forth lasted longer than necessary, Dena was too tired to not get frustrated and give up. She sighed exasperatedly and walked off the elevator. Walking away quickly she just barely caught him saying, “Have a good night.” She turned around to return the sentiment but she saw him walking quickly in the opposite direction.

She shrugged, “whatever” then walked to her car. When she finally got to it she pushed the button on Her key fob to unlock it and went to step inside, when she saw something tucked under the wiper blade. She grabbed it, her first thought being a flyer for one thing or another that she’ll just toss later.

When she looked closer at it after starting her car and locking her doors, she noticed it was an envelope. Nothing on the outside, front or back. She was slowly becoming the only car in the garage, which made her look uncomfortable so she pulled out and drove home.

She made it home to her empty apartment, which did not allow pets if any sort, and took off her shoes. After dropping all of her belongings where she’d reach them in the morning, she flopped down on her couch and opened the envelope.


Inside the envelope was a gift card. It was for the coffee shop she passed every day on her drive to work. “Hmm, that’s odd.” She flipped it over to look at the back, as if some explanation for it would be there.

Still very confused, she picked up the envelope again, and saw nothing written on either side. She looked inside, and she saw she’d missed a small piece of paper when she removed the gift card.

“You look in the window every morning but never go in.” It read. “Maybe you should go in next time.” In the back it was signed, “Your Secret Admirer”.

She was quiet for a long moment, but finally spoke out loud in her empty apartment. “Somebody is watching me on my way to work?”

Just thinking of the idea made her uncomfortable. It was beside the fact that she did look in the window daily. The shop was right on the corner and there was a stop light she always got caught in. She never went in because she never had time. She glanced at the gift card again. It didn’t even have an amount written on it or the slip of paper to tell her it even had anything on it.

She put the card aside and tried to forget it while she prepared a quick dinner for one, and watched whatever random TV movie she could find.

The next day, on her way to work, she made a point to not look into the window of the coffee shop, she decided she didn’t really like coffee or fresh baked pastries anyway. When she stepped foot off the elevator and into her floor, she was, as usual, stunned by the sheer number of valentines hearts around the room. She weaved her way around people and cubicles to find hers, and prepared to start her day.

She was getting her notepad and pens out of her desk drawer when a throat cleared loudly behind her. She turned to see Patty standing there, a wide grin on her petite face.

“Did you notice?” She asked Dena, almost shaking with delight.

“Notice?” Dena asked, unsure.

“The ceiling, dear! She exclaimed, gesturing upward. There were now tiny hearts hanging from the ceiling tiles. “I asked the janitors to hang them for me last night!”

“Wow,” Dena said, “I see them now.” She looked, there had to be at least a hundred. “They must have had fun with that!” The sarcasm was a little thick, she wondered if Dena would notice.

Oh, Pshaw.” She said. Then she leaned in and whispered. “I bribed them with the promise of my special snickerdoodles!” she giggled like a school girl at herself.

“I bet you did,” Dena wanted to say. “Well, I’m sure they will know you appreciate their hard work.”

“The cookies are waiting on them in my file cabinet!” She giggled slyly. “I have extras if you wanna stop by later.”

“Oh, thanks, but I think I’ll resist this time.”

“Well alright. You know where I’m at if you change your mind.”

Patty walked away and Dena logged in on her computer to begin her work day. She opens a drawer to remove a file she was working in yesterday, and on top was an envelope.

“Well,” she thought nervously. “I know it’s someone in this office. Or at least the building.” She hesitated, wondering if this mystery person was watching her now. She looked up, trying to seem less like she’s looking for an assassin, and glanced around the office as best she could.

“If I can’t see them, they can’t see me.” She told herself, hoping it wasn’t a lie. She grabbed the end of the file, lifting out of the drawer and allowing the card to slide off and into the empty drawer.

Shutting the drawer she laid the folder on the desk and opened it up and got to work, hoping she’d forget about it quickly.

—TBC—


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*Repost* Elf on the Shelf

20 Tuesday Dec 2022

Posted by crashdlanding in Fiction

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christmas, crash landing, crashdlanding, elf on the shelf, fiction, repost

(Tonight’s post is going to be a repost, for two simple reasons: I’m tired and I feel this needs brought back. Enjoy.)

Greg stumbled groggily into his kitchen and hissed as the late afternoon sun pierced his squinted eyes.

He was hungover from a night of heavy drinking and coming on to women who immediately rejected him. He’d gotten in late and slept off the booze and the day. He opened the refrigerator to peruse it’s paltry offerings but the sight that greeted him scared the remaining alcohol out of his blood. Jumping back Greg bumped his throbbing noggin on the cabinets, choking back a scream and a groan. The fridge door closed itself and he stared nervously at it, fearing the worst.

Hoping what he saw was caused by leftover drunk he stood, rubbing the rising lump on the back of his head. He stepped forward and opened the door. It was still there.

In all its red and white glory, the Elf on the Shelf, stared vacantly with that mischievous grin plastered on its face. It sat motionless, it’s hands clutching a broken beer bottle. Inside was a rolled up sheet of paper.

Tentatively Greg pulled it away from the elf, careful not to disturb anything else. He unrolled the sheet, spilling red and green glitter on the kitchen tile, and read the candy cane letters.

“We’re watching you, Greg. Always watching.” It said. “Are you being a good boy?”

-c

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Moving Forward

16 Friday Dec 2022

Posted by crashdlanding in Fiction Friday, Non-Fiction

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consistency, crash landing, crashdlanding, fiction, Fiction Friday, goals, non-fiction, planning ahead, poll, writing

I’ve tried for many years to set a schedule for myself. An eating schedule, a writing schedule, a plan my life away schedule. But I am currently trying to create for myself some semblance of a blogging schedule. I feel like doing so would create consistency and consistency will bring me more readers.

By the look of this blog currently, it seems that consistency must frighten me, or something. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to the nonsense I spew forth into the void that is a blog with low readership. But I keep on keeping on like a choo choo train around an endless track.

Because I am stubborn and refuse to break my streak. This will be day 30, FYI.

So, let’s set one thing in proverbial stone right now, shall we? Henceforth, Fridays shall be known as “Fiction Fridays”. I have done posts in the past with the heading of “Fiction Friday”, namely at least one during Birthday Month Blogs. I think, honestly, I could be wrong, I’m usually wrong about a lot of things. But while I am trying to maintain a streak on this blog, I am going to attempt to create fiction on a weekly basis.

The goal for this being, obviously, gaining readership, and consistency. But also doing so will give me a full-on week to write the thing and make it sound less like I’m making it up half an hour before I post it. Which is usually the case 99.99% of the time. Now the question is this. Should I make this “Fiction Friday” thing a different story each week, sort of like “Randomized Fiction”, or should I make it installments of the same story until it is complete? For the heck of it, let’s throw a poll in just to see if anyone will vote.



I mean, I might as well use as many premium features as possible, right? I usually post any polls on my Facebook page. But I have considered moving them to the website.

I have yet to figure out what will happen on the rest of the days of the week, but I know at least a small amount of time on one or both of my days off from my day job will be dedicated to nothing but working on one or more of my NUMEROUS Works-in-Progress projects. Those are the Pretend Fantasy Novel, the 2nd Story project, the drawing challenge (I need to finish that dang duck), and I’m sure there is something I’m forgetting.

Now, that’s not to say that there might not pop up some fiction on other days of the week, we will just have to see how I feel or what comes to me at the time. But between working for a living, motherhood, and that sleep thing I have to get once in a while, I have hardly any time to get anything done besides wallow in self pity. But we will see what we can manage.

For now, I will bed you a Dieu. Work will come early and I’m sure The Kid will be crawling in my bed within the hour. Goodnight, friends.


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Timed Writing Challenge (1) Part Two

02 Friday Dec 2022

Posted by crashdlanding in Fiction

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crash landing, crashdlanding, fiction, random generator, writing, writing challenge

This Timed Writing Challenge was something made up on the fly last night. The goal was to use Random Generator, gather some helpful details, and spend what time I had left (until 11pm, my bedtime), attempting to write a complete short story.

Well I failed last night because I’m wordy and give too much info. So this is me finishing the story from last night, because I knew where I was going with it, I just started falling asleep.

Screen recording for proof that I didn’t just pretend, I guess?
Random Word, Random Male and Female Names, and Random Sentence.

What I wrote in 25-ish minutes

Go straight to part two

As the rental car rolled to a stop on the dark road, her fear increased by the moment. Valeria Ingram had been in the passenger seat of the rental for eight hours. She and her fiancé Eduardo Phillips had been driving home from a weekend with her family. They had decided that driving would be more interesting and way cheaper than buying a plane ticket.

And they were right.

They’d had an unusually uneventful weekend with her family. Uneventful meaning she didn’t walk away from the experience with regrets. Her family was loud and rowdy and opinionated. Her parents constantly asked why they weren’t married yet, her older brothers harassed Ed, attempting to involve him in shenanigans. And all the nieces and nephews could drain a persons energy pretty quickly.

But nothing happened that wasn’t typical of her family, no one was rushed to the emergency room this time, there were no Turkey-to-fireball situations like thanksgiving last year.

It was the ride home that was currently causing her distress.

It began fine, with them packing the trunk with their luggage and all the nonsense that her mother sent them home with. Hugs and shoulder squeezes goodbye. Then they piled themselves into the car and drove off, waving out their windows as they did so.

When they got off her parents street and headed toward the highway entrance ramp they discussed plans for the next eight or so hours ahead. They had snacks in the car so they wouldn’t need to stop for food until lunchtime, when they’d also have a bathroom break. They’d agreed on a scenic route to see small town landmarks they missed on the way in. Typical road trip plans.

It was a few hours in when things began to grow, strange. Ed, who’d made the executive decision that he should drive the whole way, began to stare blankly out the windshield. It took Val a minute to realize it wasn’t your typical, “I’ve been driving a while” stare. His demeanor would change, his shoulders would tense, his grip on the steering wheel would tighten, and she could see the muscles in his jaw flex from clenching.

After a while, noticing these episodes come and go, she asked, “You okay, Ed?”

He seemed to immediately snap out if it when she spoke up. “What? Yeah, fine. Why?” He’d asked.

“You just looked a little tense there, you wanna switch out? I can drive a while.” She offered.

“No I’m fine!” He said cheerfully. “We’re not far from a rest stop. I’ll hop out, stretch my legs a bit, just getting a cramp.”

“Oh, okay,” she sighed, relieved. “I could use a stretch myself.

He seemed fine the rest of the trip to the rest stop, where they both got out, stretched their legs. Valeria decided she’d step into the small building that held the restrooms. There was always brochures and fliers for local attractions and parks. She liked collecting them on trips.

She picked one up for a local fall festival, a giant rock that had a gift shop and a diner named after it, and something called The Lion’s Den. It appeared to be an old youth camp. It was on their way home, and on what appeared to be a lovely lake.

They climbed back into the car and got buckled in. She showed Ed the brochures before they pulled out, The Lion’s Den was on top. “What’s this?” He asked, a muscle in his jaw clenching.

“Oh, just some brochures.” Val tapped a finger on the Lions Den. “That looks like it was an old camp! I think they rent out the cabins for vacationers now.” She shrugged. “Seemed neat.” She said. “It’s on a lake!”

“I didn’t realize we were so close.” He mumbled.

“What?” Val wasn’t sure she heard him right.

“I just said I didn’t realize there was anything like that near here.” He shifted the car into gear and pulled out a little faster than he should have.

“Oh.” She sensed something was off.

A few more hours in and she’d been trying to shrug off the bad vibe she was getting from her fiancé, when they stopped for lunch at an old fashioned drive-in diner. She became distracted by the old fashioned menu boards, speaker you could hang on your window for music, and the car hops on roller skates.

They both ordered a burger, but they each got different sides to share. She got a raspberry shake, and he got the car hop’s recommendation, a fresh squeezed strawberry lemonade. As they ate, Ed seemed to relax, he tension seemed to release and his was becoming closer to his old self.


Continued…

They began to laugh and joke, Ed telling her something one of her brothers had said, and she’d laugh and roll he eyes. When they finished eating they cleaned up their trash and put it in its place. As they were getting back in the car, Val caught Ed staring at a tree covered mountain in the distance. She noticed his fists were clenched and she watched him.

Ed had never been violent with her, never said a mean thing to anyone as long as she’d known him. They’d been to for nearly a decade, known each other for longer. They were both nearing forty, but they were happy with how things were. And they had similar ideas for the future.

But Valeria did not know a lot about Eduardo’s past, his childhood and youth. For years all he’d ever tell her was he didn’t have a happy or an easy childhood and he didn’t like to talk about it. He’d told her his family was gone, and that’s why he enjoyed hers so much. “Even the rowdiness, and the nonsense?” She’d asked.

“Especially all of that.” He had smiled when he said it, that sweet friendly smile, the one that drew her to him when they’d met.

When they were finally back in the car and on the road, she tried to keep conversation going, talking about what work would be like Monday, wondering if their neighbor had been sure to water their plants. She point out when she saw animals off in the distance in fields.

But as they drove on Ed became less and less vocal. Soon his responses turned to grunts and soon after that nothing at all. The tense jaw and white knuckles on the steering wheel were back and she very quickly stopped talking.

You could soon cut the air with a knife, and she grew uncomfortable with the silence. She turned on the radio and tuned it to the first station she could get a clear signal on.

A low monotone voice came over the airwaves. “And you’re listening to 101.7 the Lion’s Roar. This is the ‘Righteous Hour’ with me, Brother Saul.”

Val’s brows furrowed as she listened to the host. He sounded like your typical talk radio host, flat toned and quiet. But there was something odd, no, off about it. First, it sounded old, not his voice, but the recording. Like it had been playing for a long time.

“Give your self to the Righteous One. Use your power for The One’s Will and do as the One commands.”

“Oh no thank you.” Val spoke aloud, reaching to turn off the radio. Ed slapped her hand away without saying a word or looking in her direction. She drew it back and held it to herself.

“Ed?!” She said in shock, staring at him. He never said a word or took his eyes off the road. “Why did you do that?!” She asked, shocked more than anything else.

Ed managed a grunt but never moved an inch.

That was the beginning for her, the beginning of the worst ride of her life. She moved herself as far away from him as she could in the confines of the car, and only stared out the window.

It was hours later, and the sun had begun to set when she realized that he’d taken a detour. He’d veered off the main highway m, which would’ve take them almost the whole way home. It was what her father would have called the scenic route. But it didn’t look anything like what would have been on their way home.

But then she saw it. She’d almost missed it in the growing darkness. A billboard with a vaguely familiar logo. She reached into the cubby hole in the her door and pulled out the stack of brochures. There it was, right on top.

“The Lion’s Den”

Not long after the billboard, the headlights of the rental car began to reveal only gravel road lined with old growth fir trees. The road had a steady incline and gradually turned right. On Valeria’s side was nothing but the rock of the mountain they seemed to be climbing. On Ed’s side seemed to be nothing but a drop off of unknown height.

“Ed,” she managed to whisper. “Where are you taking us?” She asked. “Why?”

She did not expect an answer, he hadn’t spoken in hours. But he did, finally. It was low, flat, monotone. But there was almost a growl to the single word. it sent shivers down her spine.

“Home.”

After a few seemingly endless minutes, the road flattened out and widened. They pulled up to a old wooden fence, that had to be thirty years old. It looked neglected, as if it had been decades since anyone had been there.

The unimpeded moonlight shown upon several buildings sitting the grounds, and structures Val could not identify in the darkness. The moon and the headlights of the car were the only sources of light. Until Ed shut off the engine.

Still quiet as death, Ed climbed out of the car and walked around to the passenger side. She was not fast enough to think to lock her door. Hours ago she would have never thought she’d have to lock a door against this man. He pulled her door open and reached inside and grabbed her wrist. She was choked by the belt that was still buckled around her.

He grunted in dissatisfaction and leaned in and unbuckled her seatbelt. It was then that she noticed that somehow even his scent had changed. His smell gave her the feeling that she should run, like prey smelling it’s predator.

She was dragged roughly out of the car and pulled her behind him as he walked to the nearest building. There were no lights inside or out, no sounds either. Not even a breeze to stir the leaves on the tree.

Instead of entering the building he pulled her around it, where, as they drew nearer she could she a massive statue in the center of a field. He pushed her to the ground at the base of this statue. She could feel the tiny cuts on her palms when she caught herself with her hands. She turned to add, tears in her eyes, about to speak, when she looked up at the massive statue looming over them.

The statue was the body of a man, a bare as the statue of David, arms reaching into the dark sky, toward what could only be the full moon. But this man was not just a man. The statue’s head was a lion, baring it’s teeth, his mane trailing down his chest, a crown of thorns atop his head, glaring down at those below that witness it.

Ed stared up at the statue, spoke no words, and raises his hands above his head like the statue in front of him. Then suddenly he fell to his knees, the sound of the rocks cracking against them made Val cringe.

She watched as he bowed and rose, over and over, seemingly never taking his eyes off the statue. Then, a low hum seemed to grow deep in his chest, building and building until it was a guttural roar. The quiet man she once knew, her shy fiancé was roaring at the base of a grotesque effigy of some god unknown to her.

It took a moment but she soon began to recognize that there was more than just Ed’s roar. There were several, coming from all around them. And then she saw, emerging from the shadows of buildings, the tree line, everywhere and no where. People. They were surrounding them and the statue, roaring their own praise, falling to their knees before it.

Except for one man, sunken eyes, long gray hair and beard, and, from what she could see in the light, a burn scar across his face. He stepped forward, and stood next to Ed, who rose before him. Everyone, who looked as rough and worn as he, stopped suddenly. The silence was shocking.

“Eduardo, my son.” The old man said in a raspy voice. “You’ve heard the Righteous One’s call, we prayed he would bring you back. And you are home.” He proclaimed, resting his hands on Ed’s shoulders, their foreheads meeting. The man released Ed from the embrace, and looked him in the eye. “And you’ve brought us a friend.”

The man turned his gaze upon Valeria and the look in his eyes told her to scream.


Valeria Ingram and Eduardo Philips we’re both reported missing three days later by her parents, when phone calls to their cellphones and home went unanswered. Their rental car was never returned, leading authorities to believe they went missing at some point on their trip home. Locations in their planned route, which Ingram had shared with her parents, for safety reasons, were checked for surveillance.

They were seen at the rest stop where they stretched their legs and Ingram was shown collecting brochures. Phillips was seen via security cameras behaving strangely, pulling his hair and stretching as if to reach the sky.

There last known location was Gilly’s Drive In Diner. They cannot be seen in security footage anywhere along their planned route and credit card activity stopped at the diner.

Two weeks after their disappearance and missing persons reports were filed, cellphones and other personal belongings identified as their were found strewn along the highway they would have taken home.

To date there are currently no leads and no reported sightings of the couple. authorities ask if you know anything or have seen anything, to contact them via their non-emergency or the anonymous tip line.


So? How’d I do? I legit have some background? This whole thing was compelling. I specifically skipped my melatonin so I wouldn’t fall asleep finishing this!


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Timed Writing Challenge?

01 Thursday Dec 2022

Posted by crashdlanding in Fiction

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challenge, crash landing, crashdlanding, fiction, incomplete, sleepy, writing, writing challenge

25 minutes to write something?


As the rental car rolled to a stop on the dark road, her fear increased by the moment. Valeria Ingram had been in the passenger seat of the rental for eight hours. She and her fiancé Eduardo Phillips had been driving home from a weekend with her family. They had decided that driving would Take be more interesting and way cheaper than buying a plain ticket.

And they were right.

They’d had an unusually uneventful weekend with her family. Uneventful meaning she didn’t walk away from the experience with regrets. Her family was loud and rowdy and opinionated. Her parents constantly asked why they weren’t married yet, her older brothers harassed Ed, attempting to involve him in shenanigans. And all the nieces and nephews could drain a persons energy pretty quickly.

But nothing happened that wasn’t typical of her family, no one was rushed to the emergency room this time, there were no Turkey-to-fireball situations like thanksgiving last year.

It was the ride home that was currently causing her distress.

It began fine, with them packing the truck with their luggage and all the nonsense that her mother sent them home with. Hugs and shoulder squeezes goodbye. Then they liked themselves into the car and drove off, waving out their windows as they did so.

When the got off her parents stewed and headed toward the highway entrance ramp the discussed plans for the next eight or so hours ahead. They had snacks in the car so they wouldn’t need to stop for food until lunchtime, when they’d also have a bathroom break. They’d agreed on a scenic route to see small town landmarks they missed on the way end. Typical road trip stuff.

It was a few hours in when things began to grow, strange. Ed, who’d made the executive decision that he should drive the whole way, began to stare blankly out the windshield. It took Val a minute to realize it wasn’t your typical, “I’ve been driving a while” stare. His demeanor would change, his shoulders would tense, his grip on the steering wheel would tighten, and she could see the muscles in his jaw tighten from clenching.

After a while, noticing these episodes come and go, she asked, “You okay, Ed?”

He seemed to immediately snap out if it when she spoke up. “What? Yeah, fine. Why?” He’d asked.

“You just looked a little tense there, you wanna switch out? I can drive a while.” She offered.

“No I’m fine!” He said cheerfully. “We’re not far from a rest stop. I’ll hope out, stretch my legs a bit, just getting a crap.”

“Oh, okay,” she sighed, relieved. “I could use a stretch myself.

He seemed fine the rest of the trip to the rest stop, where they both got out, stretched their legs. Valeria decided she’d step into the small building that held the restrooms. There was always brochures and fliers for local attractions and parks. She liked collecting them on trips.

She picked one up for a local fall festival, a giant rock that had a gift shop and a dinner named after it, and something called The Lion’s Den. It appeared to be an old youth camp. It was on their way home, and on what appeared to be a lovely lake.

They climbed back into the car and got buckled in. She showed Ed the brochures before they pulled out, The Lion’s Den was on top. “What’s this?” He asked, a muscle in his jaw clenching.

“Oh, just some brochures.” Val tapped a finger on the Lions Den. “That looks like it was an old camp! I think they rent out the cabins for vacationers now.” She shrugged. “Seemed neat.” She said. “It’s on a lake!”

“I didn’t realize we were so close.” He mumbled.

“What?” Val wasn’t sure she hear him right.

“I just said I didn’t realize there was anything like that near here.” He shifted the car into gear and pulled out a little faster than he should have.

“Oh.” She sensed something was off.

A few more hours in and she’d been trying to shrug off the bad vibe she was getting from her fiancé, when they stopped for lunch at an old fashioned drive-in diner. She became distracted by the old fashioned menu boards, speaker you could hang on your window for music, and the car hop’s on roller skates.

They both ordered a burger, but they each got different sides to share. She got a raspberry shake, and he got the car hop’s recommendation, a fresh squeezed strawberry lemonade. As they ate, Ed seemed to relax, he tension seemed to release and his was becoming closer to his old self.


Story Completed Here

Challenge failed? I’m dozing off sitting up. But I know where I wanna go and it’ll be finished tomorrow!! Goodnight!


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“Shard” (Actual Title Pending) – Fiction

29 Tuesday Nov 2022

Posted by crashdlanding in Fiction, Pretend Fantasy Novel

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crash landing, crashdlanding, fiction, green, man, old, PFN, Pretend Fantasy Novel, shard, writing

As promised, some Fiction.

Yes, I’m here again, not with a free ride on the rollercoaster of my downward spiral but some fiction! This bit of fiction officially part of the PFN Universe. There might be more of these. Hope you enjoy.

The old man staggered through the densely wooded forest looking for edible berries or fungi of some sort. He once picked a mushroom from the base of a large oak and consumed it without thought. He later had wild dreams of fantastical beasts. He now paid closer attention, but when you’re hungry, you eat what you can find.

His thin frail frame and shaggy head of hair and beard wasn’t all that showed his lack of home, the rags that draped poorly over his skeletal form added to the clues that gave away his status of homelessness.

He would be the first to admit to inquiring minds that he was his own problem. Gambling and losing, and seeking expensive pleasures led to his financial downfall just as much as anything else. Stubbornness when offered help aided in his continued path.

As he staggered and stumbled over tree roots and overgrown plants he imagined finding sacks of gold dropped by wealthy men on errant paths. He knew it was unlikely anyone with any money would be wondering the woods, but he still had his dreams, didn’t he?

He spotted a bush that looked promising, small red berries dotting it’s still green leaves despite the coming autumn. He attempted to pick up his pace to approach the bush when the toe of his leather booties, worn thin from long wear, caught on a particularly high root and he tripped.

He face-planted into the decaying leaves on the forest floor and an audible “Oof” escaped his chest. After taking a moment to despise his lot in life he then rolled over and began to attempt to detangle the threads of his booties from the rough bark of the tree. He tugged his leg and his foot yanked free of the bootie, which was still caught on the root.

He groaned and stood, frustrated his bare foot was now covered in decaying leaves. He’d stepped in worse but misfortune was something that was always frustrating, regardless of the degree.

He hobbled over to the root of the tree and bent to yank the bootie aggressively away. The bootie was somehow stuck more firmly than he realized and he pulled hard to disengage it. Just as he felt it loosen he saw something glowing in a hole under the tree, where the root emerged.

The root released its grip on the bootie just as he was distracted by the glowing light, and he lost his balance, falling backward on his thin backside.

He felt what could only be his tailbone crack, and thought, “that’s me not sitting comfortably for a while.” And realized he hadn’t sat comfortably in a long time. He stood, rubbing his sore backside and remembered the glowing light.

He pulled on his bootie, dirt and leaves and all, now with a hole in the toe, and got down on his hands and knees. He crawled over to the glowing light, not risking another trip and fall. He reached the hole, still glowing, and saw the light had a green tinge. Curious to a fault, he reached inside, and tried to grasp the thing that glowed.

He reached in, nearly elbow deep, until his bony finger just grazed the thing inside. For a moment he thought he felt a tantalizing warmth on the surface. Curiouser, he reached even further keeping the hand outside the unexpectedly deep hole holding right to the root of the tree.

Finally, shoulder deep, tired muscles aching, he reached the thing and grasped it with thin fingers. The moment he made contact he felt a warmth he’d not felt in decades, a warmth that seeped into his bones. And something else, something he’d never felt before. Power.

He quickly became desperate to retrieve the thing that glowed. He tightened his grip and pulled, but there was nothing. No movement save for the aching of his old hungry bones.

So, he did something his head and heart told him not to do. He let go. He released his grip on the thing and rose into his knees. And began to dig. His desperate fingers turned into claws as he raked dirt and rocks away from the hood at the base of the tree. He dug and pulled, tossing rocks over his shoulder, never noticing his fingertips had begun to bleed.

Dusk turned to dark, the only light he has was from the pals moon peaking between the dying leaves of the trees and the green glow of the thing he dug for.

The moon has risen to its peak and finally he’d dig deep enough to crawl inside under the tree and see the thing he so desperately tried to reach. He was in awe of its beauty. His eyes shined with the green glow that washed over him.

It was much larger than he expected, probably quite heavy. A Crystal of some sort, he could only imagine. He knew nothing of things like that, but it looked like a jewel of the highest grade and quality.

“I’ll be rich,” he whispered. He imagined the wealth he’d have, the things he could buy. “But first a hot bath!”

He began to frantically dig around the exposed parts of the thing, trying to release it from its dark prison.

“I’ll sell it,” he mumbled as he worked. “No, piece by piece! I’ll sell a little at a time, until I have everything my heart desires!”

As he dug he noticed not the clouds rolling in to cover the moon. He heard not the howling of wild dogs nor the cries of mountain lions in the night. He only had eyes and ears and hands for the thing he wished to retrieve.

He swept away loosened dirt exposing yet more of the crystalline structure of the stone, and grasped at it to try to wiggle it free. He felt that now familiar surge of warmth and power and shifted the thing side to side, and this time, finally, it moved.

He cackled with his exhausted, raspy voice, the sound echoing under the tree. He shifted it more, and with a final tug, it yanked free from the earth.

And it was heavy. Heavier than that farmer’s prized pumpkin he tried to to steal from the vine a few summers ago. He was chased off that time, with no spoils for her trouble. But he wouldn’t be chased off anymore.

He wrapped an arm around his prize, and shimmied himself backward, out of the hole he’d dug to reach the stone. His thin shirt rode up, exposing his chest to dirt and rocks.

Finally he sat up, cross legged on the ground cradling the glowing green shard like a very heavy baby. “I’ll never scavenge for food again!l he cackled into the dark forest. “I’ll never get disgusted looks from people. I’ll never be laughed at by men in fancy coats and shoes again!” He cackled again.

What the old man did not have a looking glass to see what others might see. If he had he would see the sickly pallor from the green glow upon his face, with sunken eyes and cheeks. And the frighteningly dark look in his eyes themselves, this look came from not the glow of the stone, but somewhere else. Somewhere deeper.


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Prophesying is Hard

20 Thursday Oct 2022

Posted by crashdlanding in 2nd Story Proposals, Fiction, Pretend Fantasy Novel

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crash landing, crashdlanding, fiction, non-fiction, Pretend Fantasy Novel, the silent secret, writing

A Poorly timed free balling NOPE spitballing session.

I got it into my head that I needed to write work on #Pretend Fantasy Novel. I’ve had bits and pieces of the first chapter stuck in my head for months. Yes, I know I’ve been “working” on it for ages, but you know me. But like a silly little dreamer I got it in my head to try and put things down.

So I randomly generated some names for some characters that were in the scene and started laying down some lines. Well, I got to a part that needed more than just a random generator.

The main plot of PFN (titles are hard) is “to prevent the world from ending a number of artifacts of some kind must be collected and taken to a predetermined location”.

See? Proof.

I have added my own spin and, hopefully no spoilers, there’s a prophecy that if “shards” of a thing are not collected and brought together, the world will end. Hold up there’s a whole post. BRB. BMB: The Prophecy. Ok I’m sorry that was a Birthday Month Blogs post where I fell asleep sitting up.

That particular version of the prophecy had a lot of placeholders. The the gist of it is:

The end of times shall be nigh with the dying of the lambs, the rotting of fruit upon the vine, and the spoiling of water in pots. 

BUT where it’s unfinished is the actual names of things. So here’s me spitballing ideas into the universe. The Prophecy continues…

Unless the Shards of the fire Crystal from the sky are brought together in The Tomb of Aryn before the setting of the sun on the final day of Harvest, the Earth shall shatter. 

Like I said freeNO spitballing. Rolling ideas around in my head to come up with something good. Now, there are a few things in both bits of the passages of the Prophecy that might need explanation.

“Shards”: I heard the word somewhere and liked it? I thought it would make a good name for a thing.

“Aryn”: despite the fact that my head keeps thinking it sounds too much like one of my boss’ name *shudders 🤮😂*, it too came from a random generator.

Proof of another thing

And it was so absolutely similar to the name of the place the novel will take place: Arynthel. That was chosen by the group members as well. It was one of multiple made up using letters from names of the people involved in the creation of PFN.

All I will say about “Aryn” is that I plan on adding Lore to the world of Artnthel, and obviously Aryn (a woman) will be part of it. Not my boss. He’s not cool like that. (In the very unlikely chance he’ll read any of this, he’d probably laugh at me lol.)

The “Fire Crystal from the Sky” I literally made up on the toilet on the spot.

Like I said, the kinks are still being worked out. I want to eventually (before publication) write the whole prophecy in poetic verse form, and make it sound cooler tbh. And I feel like my title is gonna come from the prophecy.

The next couple days are gonna be me working on the prophecy and title, and I would like to start writing in earnest in November. Possibly spend a week on PFN and a week on The Silent Secret, alternating between the two. I think I’ll keep a running weekly word found for both WIPs and post them here.

Stay tuned, fellers.


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The Silent Secret: The Story So Far

07 Friday Oct 2022

Posted by crashdlanding in Premium, silent secret

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crash landing, crashdlanding, fiction, non-fiction, Premium, silent secret, updates, writing

The Premise

Twenty-years ago in Black Pine, at a local beach celebration, high school senior, cheerleading captain Haley Sullivan went missing. The incident put a shadow over the entire graduating class and town.

Now, just in time for their high school reunion, those she was closest to in school all received postcards, all reading “Have you forgotten about Haley.”

Lucy Sawyer, childhood friend of Haley, received her post card, and decided it’s time to return home, and maybe find out whose keeping the secret, of what happened to Haley.

The Deets

I came up with the idea for this story during a time when a close relative was very ill. We were passing through a state park with old fashioned motels, run down from disuse, nestled deep in tall trees growing for perhaps a hundred years on the side of a mountain.

Back in the days when family style road trips to see landmarks and local attractions were the go-to vacation, small downs like these were probably popular and thriving. Now the internet exists and if you wanna see a natural bridge or cave system, you can Google it. So the towns, and people in them, lost money as interest waned. These places went from destinations to “just passing through”.

On a trip through the mountains, I started thinking about this, and as I tend to do, wondered what kind of stories someone could tell. And this Black Pines was born.

The idea for the actual store legit came from *drumroll* random generators. I wanted to write a novel entirely with random generators. While it’s been a few years since the idea was created, I know that character names and other aspects came entirely from generators. Including the title. The premise from the story came from the title and bits and pieces of other generators.

Access

The Silent Secret will be my first premium only story. It will be available chapter by chapter on the premium page here. It will ONLY be available via premium.

Premium is currently set at $10 a year, which is pretty reasonable, I think. While subscription is currently open, I won’t be posting any premium content for a while so don’t worry about subscribing right away! It will be announced when it will be posted.

FYI: Creating a (free) WordPress account is required to subscribe.

I’m also working on some promotional material, including a mock newspaper article. This material will be free to read.

WIP/Works in Progress

I currently have multiple works in progress (WIPs) on my docket, including Halloween History, the Choose You’re Adventure Story (which needs a title), and Pretend Fantasy Novel. I hope to have something to share soon!


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Choose Your Adventure

29 Thursday Sep 2022

Posted by crashdlanding in Choose Your Adventure, Fiction

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Choose Your Adventure, crash landing, crashdlanding, fiction, Halloween, non-fiction, polls, writing

Right around a year ago, I tried to start something I called “Choose Your Adventure”. You know those old books where at the end of a section it said “go to page 77 for this or page 56 for this” and it would alter the plot?

Well, I tried to do that with polls. I started with a prewritten portion of the story and there would be a poll to decide what I wrote next. It lasted about two polls before I lost my will to live write because no one was interested (probably because I was inconsistent).

Well, I decided that I needed to potentially overwhelm myself once more with a third mini project (in addition to PFN and 2nd Story). This will be my Halloween, though not super creepy, story for the month of October.

I’m thinking of it as a palate cleanser for when I’m feeling brain fried while focusing on the main events. So in an act of good faith, below you’ll find what was already written on the Choose Your Adventure Story, plus a little fresh that hadn’t been shared yet! Enjoy and keep your eyes open for the redux!


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