school

It’s Been a While

Hello everyone!

I know I’ve been gone for too long. When deciding to take the break, I never imagined time would slip so quickly past me and leave me wondering where it went. It has just flown by for a variety of reasons and now, I’m trying to get back into the swing of things.

First off, I had an amazing seasonal job for November and December. Management was awesome, coworkers were just great, and it was a fun environment. There were a lot of us seasonals and they definitely want some of us back, but they had no room to add any of us to their store’s roster. That sucked, but I continued on enjoying the job for as long as I could.

Then came January. My birth month. After Christmas, which I always find stressful, I didn’t want to deal with getting older and feeling further behind in life. I was left to find another, most likely part-time, job during the slowest hiring period of the year. January went by and February without hearing anything back or seeing any “good” job postings.

But then March appeared. Interviews were aplenty and was told by one potential employer I was overqualified for what she wanted. That felt great to hear after feeling worthless. I was offered two jobs though and was getting ready to do my first shift when non-essential businesses were shut down.

Covid-19 had officially reared its ugly head and continues to keep many Canadians confined indoors and away from work. On this note, I would like to say I hope everyone out there is safe and healthy and finding ways to keep afloat emotionally despite this pandemic. If you or others you know have it, I hope you recover quickly and are self-isolating safely. I’m glad world leaders are taking it seriously and are continuing to do what they can to eliminate its risk to all of us. It’s on all of us to do our part and support those who work in healthcare or other essential business fields by practising proper hygiene and limiting our trips outside.

Despite the negativity coming with Covid-19, I have decided to use this time to return to things I thought were best left forgotten or explored. I applied to a local college for Pre-Health and hope to do well in it to pursue nursing. Helping others is something I’ve always wanted to do and I try to put others before me most of the time. (That can be viewed as a negative habit and it can be so I’m working on moderating it). I’m excited for where this journey will take me!

Since being cooped up, I’ve also been working on my book and finally have it set up as an e-book on amazon! It is available to pre-order through this link https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B086VQFNGT?ref_=pe_1724030_132998070 and if you want to check it out, I encourage it! It will be fully available on April 17th, 2020! Still gotta work on a decent profile pic and bio for the author part, so I appreciate any tips you guys can give me!

In conclusion (that sounds so formal), I think that sums up the big things that have happened since I signed off in October. Please reach out to me on twitter @KEMwriting or in the comments below and let me know how you’re doing!

Stay safe and healthy!

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#PicturePoetryPrompt: Gun Control

From North of the border,
I watch my American friends
suffer time and again.
A vicious cycle repeating.

Bullets fired from GUNS
are worth more than
LIVES
I hear again and again.

And yet there’s a growing chorus
Of voices.
Young
Old
Female
Male
Gay
Straight
Black
White.

They scream for CONTROL
United against a bigger threat.
They don’t want to hide
Afraid and alone
from angry people who take their rage
like tidal waves
and crash into innocents.

They want change.
Not to take all the GUNS away
But to restrict the types
Create stiffer rules.
What threat is this
to your freedoms,
My GUN owning friends?

They should be free
to feel SAFE
In a Grocery store
In a School
At a Concert
At a Hospital
At a Synagogue
At a Church

ANYWHERE.

But the NRA has friends
who view CONTROL
as an evil worse than plague
WHICH IT’S NOT.
When did your fellow Americans’ LIVES
come to mean so little?

I see this on my screens
In our papers.
As a Canadian,
I’m thankful for our GUN CONTROL.
I feel SAFE.
If only the change Americans need
would come on swift wings.
I wish you all could feel SAFE
On every day’s journeys.

You see,
I think no man, woman or child
should be afraid to leave their home
for fear of flying bullets
shot from vicious GUNS
hunting them down.

Very Short Stories, Week 16!!!

Hey, guys! I can’t believe it has been FOUR MONTHS since I started doing the very short stories prompts on Twitter. It has kept me writing and challenged me in new ways.

The best thing I like about the #vss365 is it continually challenges my creativity and my ability to show rather than tell. Sometimes, I don’t deliver what I really want, but most of the time I really enjoy them!

My nephew has gone home and so it is time to settle back into a familiar routine that includes working on my manuscript. I’m prepping somemore tools to really help me get it to that polished level.

Anyways, I’ll keep this short. Here are my very short stories for the week!

 

July 30th

Birds of a feather #flock together, she told her daughter and ruffled her hair. You’ll be fine! I promise.

The daughter nodded and grabbed the familiar hand of her mother, worn with age. They walked down the gravel road of their drive way to wait for the school bus.

 

July 31st

The #Queen of Darkness reigned over nightmares and relished the sounds of screams. Pained wails bounced off the remains of her stone castle that night. The cries mingled with the smell of spilt blood to soothe her soul and she dreamed of red drops in the depths of depravity.

 

August 1st

The #cellar doors were smashed bits, surrounding the poorly lit opening. Its stairs descended into the pitch black with no end in sight. The flashlight shook in her hands but she clicked the light on. Cautious steps took her down the steps. The creaking echoed for miles.

 

August 2nd

#Familiar hands clasped hers, warm and soothing. But she didn’t hear his words. She’d vanished into a funeral in her mind’s eye, surrounded by fragrant flowers and the tears of the mourning. The coffin before her was made of oak, strong and sturdy like her father had been in life.

 

August 3rd

It’s a tough lesson when it comes to #sacrifice, the teacher said. His high school students sat there, bored but silent. Their gaze weighed on his shoulders and he breathed deeply. You see, certain jobs have more risks than others. They require a willingness to give and not get.

 

August 4th

Stars shimmered in the night sky like glitter on a black cloth. The pale face of the moon was absent, waiting rebirth the next night. She moved the telescope slowly, hunting for a different celestial body. Aha! She exclaimed as #Jupiter came into focus. Just beautiful!

 

August 5th

The #Empress stood still and silent, an observer of her husband’s power. Her role was nothing more than to enhance his presence.

She loathed him for it.

Her eyes roamed the army til they spotted her soldier. His attire shone in the light. Memories of his touch tempted her again.

Catching Up: A Late Night

Last night around 9pm my time, an old high school friend started a group conversation on Facebook Messenger with a couple of others that we knew from high school. It was definitely an interesting night.

In high school, I was kind of the group mom and considered a goody two shoes. I didn’t get high (never have, never will), and I wasn’t a big drinker. I helped them with school projects, gave advice, received advice. It was a couple of interesting years considering my friends were ones who enjoyed partying and getting high and dancing on the wrong side of the law (most of which I was not present for).

That said, it seems like everyone has been blown to different corners. One is currently teaching English in Korea, another is out in Alberta, another is in Halifax, and another goes back and forth from London to China from the sounds of it. Some have kids, significant others, good jobs or back in school. Most still get high and enjoy the odd party.

It is interesting to see how much and how little we have changed in that space of time. I know the instigator of the convo wants us all to get together at some time which will prove a interesting feat of organization. I’m not sure if I am good to meet up with them though.

I pretty much turfed most of those relationships at the end of high school for various reasons. I reached out to a few of them a couple years ago to apologize for that, but nothing went past that aside from one breakfast meet up.

Anyways it feels like all of them have these amazing lives or at least interesting tales surrounding their struggles. Quite a few of them did not have great home lives and are dealing with that. I just feel that my story, my time from then to now, is not as interesting. The changes in my life are more… mediocre? I guess is the word to use.

I don’t have a full time job. I put on a lot of weight from then. I don’t have a social life. I have a husband with health problems that seems serious and yet aren’t. I don’t have kids. I live in a house ready for demolition (or so it feels). I’m working on a book that I have no idea will go anywhere.

At the end of the day, I guess this online conversation reunion thingie has brought up things I wish had changed and ones I wished had not. There is nothing I can do about that now though aside from be who I want to be (not sure how well that is going to go). I can be envious of their lives or try and live my own the way I want, right?

Anyways, we will see what the future holds, as we all do in time. Take care of yourselves!