26? Really?

Like a pair of shoes that needs to be worn in, it takes some time for one to settle into a new age. I always start preparing myself a month or so before my actual birthday, answering – when queried about my age, that I am ‘almost x’ or ‘x in a couple of weeks/days’. It’s my way of preparing myself for the big shift, the transition between two years which is in fact only separated by a minute or two. I like to think that it helps me to realize where I am, but in truth – it really only confuses the matter.

I still don’t feel 26.

I hadn’t been a happy 25. Or, 25 sort of passed, overshadowed by an amazing 24. 25 was the line in my mind, the proof that time does not stand still and before long I will find myself in my thirties, leaving the wonderful ‘young twenties’ behind me. I don’t have a problem with thirty per say, I just have a problem with not being 20. It’s a strange logic, but it’s mine and I’m pretty proud of it.

Despite my doubt and grumblings though, and despite the fact that I feel as if I’m wearing a jacket that’s not really mine, I have to confess that I’ve had a good transition from 25 to 26. It was a fairly low key birthday, which I celebrated only with my family and a few close friends, but it was one like no other, filled with stories and adventures and a reminder that I know some amazing people. I received quite a few calls from abroad, bitter sweet ones – for I miss that life terribly, and for the first time in history, I received some stories.

In my Nasty group of friends, (my internet writing family) we have a tradition of giving each other stories for our birthdays, dubbing a week “Something Appreciation Week”. We’ve had Steampunk Appreciation, Pixie Appreciation, Witch Appreciation and Demon Appreciation Week. I confess, lol, that I didn’t find the time to participate in the first two (though that will be rectified) but you have most probably read my two submissions for the latter.
Because we have not had such a week and I am very fond of a certain vampire from Kim Harrison’s Hollows, my friends dubbed last week Vampire Appreciation Week and it is my great pleasure to share with you what they’ve given me. In alphabetical order:

From Aheila, I received a chilling look into what drives a vampires hunger. This was very good.

From Antonio, I received a piece of fan fiction, featuring my favourite vampire – Ivy Tamwood. Thank you Antonio.

From Jenn, I received a party featuring most of my favourite people in the whole wide world, lol.

From Kylie, I received a gift unlike any other I have ever had. J For those of you who don’t know, Soldaat means Warrior in Afrikaans. Very original Kylie!

From Marsha, I received a guardian, protecting me on my way home from work I believe, lol. 😉 Thank you Marsha.

From Phil, I received a piece of wonderful fantasy fiction which does not feature vampires per say, but which does feature my horse! 😀

From Suzanne, I received a bittersweet look at the love between two people. This is beautiful Suzanne, thank you.

From Tiffany, I received a beacon of guiding light that can guide my Nasty Chibi (the bat) home. J this is one of two parts, and I’m anxiously waiting for the next!!

Birthdays isn’t just about aging, but in a sway it’s like a marker in one’s life that one can use to re-evaluate your life, come in touch with your friends, to find an excuse to feel old, to remember that you are young but, most importantly, to have fun. To be grateful that you’ve been spared another year and to realize that you have wonderful friends and family in your life.

Thank you everybody, you have made this a good year.

Alyssa.

Enter the Dragon Part 2

This is a continuation of the story I started last week. This is just random fun, I don’t know how long I will run with it.

Minias is the property of Kim Harrison and my interpretation of him doesn’t necessarily reflect the author’s view. I don’t make any money of this and in general I don’t approve of keeping demon company. 😉 this is just for good fun.

Alyss

Enter the Dragon Part 2.

Her room was now very crowded.

“Well, how big does it get?!”

It was very early morning when Minias finally showed up, a little bit travel worn and terribly amused. He had given her room one look and almost started laughing but Alyssa was at hand to kick him in the shins when he snorted. He had waded through the mess of half devoured pillows and scattered shoes to his room and disappeared for a few moments only to return with a book as large as Alyssa’s chest. Normally, she didn’t like his books in her room, having drawn a very clear line as to where he was allowed to do his black magic and where he wasn’t, but this time she didn’t matter.

“There,” Minias said, his voice too full of smiles for Alyssa not to notice. “It says so right here.”

The red head growled and glared at the paper. “It’s Latin Minias! I can’t read Latin… Oomph!” The black dragon that was the centre of all the chaos in her room whined and rubbed against her, jamming his large head into her chest. “Bad dragon!” Alyssa snapped as she tried to push him away. “Push off you. Bloody… Minias!”

The demon sighed patiently and rolled his eyes behind his smoked glasses. “Well, needless to say, this is quite an old book. The references are a bit out of date and out of practice but…”

“You are a thousand years old,” Alyssa growled as she managed to coerce the dragon back onto her bed with the only whole pillow that was left in her room. “I’m sure you can manage.”

The demon cleared his throat. “Well,” he said. “He’ll certainly fill this space.”

“By how much?”

Minias grinned. “About every inch of it.”

Alyssa groaned. Her room was an old converted garage, big enough to park a car in with a little bit more space to spare. The ceiling was about 9 foot up. This dragon had to go.

“Does it breathe fire?” she growled as she watched the dragon happily make merry with her pillow.

Minias raised an eyebrow and studied a few paragraphs. “I don’t think it’s of any concern…” he trailed off under Alyssa’s gaze.

“I have over a hundred books in my room,” she said. “Almost two hundred actually. It matters.” She had wanted to start packing up her bookcase but soon realized that as soon as she started focusing on something the dragon took an interest as well. She lost two books before she realized that she had to do something else to keep him from realizing that they might be edible. So she dropped the books and played a rough game of ‘Let that go, that’s my working shoes…’ instead. The dragon really liked that game.

Minias was smiling at her again and his expression was almost almost a little bit cruel.

“Not fire,” he answered her previous question. “Only when he’s much older. He does breathe something else though, which we need to be cautious of.”

Alyssa thought that they needed to be cautious of a lot of things, but decided not to say anything lest she lost what was left of her temper with the demon. “What?” she queried instead.

Minias looked worried for the first time. “Magic.”

Alyssa blinked.

“Magic?” she queried. “What kind of magic?”

Minias sighed. “The unpredictable kind.”

Alyssa grimaced. “White or black?” she queried, dreading the answer.

“Neither,” the demon said with a roll of his eyes, he rarely saw what the fuss was about concerning his spells. “Dragon magic. It’s in a class of its own.”

It took a lot of self control not to groan. “Well, luckily we won’t have to deal with it for long,” she said. “I…” Her phone started ringing. “Hold on for a second.” She glanced at her screen and quickly answered the phone.

“Hello Jenn.”

The person on the other side sounded relieved. “I thought I’d quickly phone and hear how you are,” she said. “I got your message that Minias is there but I couldn’t reply because I was in a meeting at work. Are you alright?”

Alyssa sighed and nodded. “We’re all just peachy,” she said. “Dragon’s still here, Minias was just telling me how dangerous its magic is.”

“Oh no!” Jenn exclaimed. “Has it tried to hurt you?”

Alyssa shook her head. “So far so good,” she said. “My room’s a mess.”

Her friend made a considering sound. “Well, do you know where it comes from?”

Again, Alyssa shook her head and gave her tenant a sharp look. “Minias was about to tell me where it came from…” She gave the demon a pointed look but he just shook his head and mouthed the words. I don’t know. Alyssa growled under her breath and looked at the dragon that was still happily sucking on her pillow. What am I going to sleep on tonight?

“He doesn’t know.”

Jenn snorted. “Some help he is,” she said. “Anything I can do to help?”

Alyssa sighed and shook her head, glancing at the time of the call. “No, we’re pretty much sorted,” she said. “I’ve gotta go Jenn, this is costing you a fortune and we still have some major dragon hauling to do. Thanks for the call.”

She could hear her friend’s smile. “That’s okay,” she said. “Take care and keep me updated!”

When the line went dead, Alyssa rounded on Minias, her hand in her hip.

“How do we get rid of it?”

Minias raised an eyebrow and looked at the dragon in a way that for a moment, made Alyssa’s hair stand on end. “Well I can…”

“No you cannot!” she snapped. “Don’t you ever look at anything in my room like that ever again. He is not… Not an ingredient or something! I just want him out, not dead.”

The demon blinked at her and then at the dragon that had turned to look at him, his golden eyes almost glowing. “Well,” he said. “Then I don’t really know. If you can think of a better idea, let me know.”

He turned and readied himself to climb back into his own reality under the bed, leaving Alyssa to gape at him.

Oh no you don’t, she thought and reached out to grab his arm…

To Be Continued…

 

 

 

Words that Wait.

Dear Author,

I realize that it has been some time that we have communicated. You have been quite busy, your mind taken by some of my other brethren. I thought it wise then to tell you that I am still here, waiting. Who am I you might ask? Why – I am your words.

And I can wait for you, no matter how busy you are, not matter where you are, no matter what you are planning to do, I will be here, waiting. Because I am patient, I am constant and I am available whenever you need me. Sometimes there is a block between us, but that block is easily overcome. If you cannot find a way to scale the block or break through it, search for new words – there are many of us and we are eager to please. Sometimes, the road which those words lead you on will bring you back to me. And I will be here, waiting.

I would like to remind you please that you have quite a few WIP’s to complete. That stands for Works In Progress if you have forgotten. I will send a list of them to you attached to this letter though there is one that I feel I must point out specifically. Please take note that next month is NaStySuMo – National Story of Superheroes Month. In it, you and I will be requeried to work together to create any work of fiction that will involve characters of a supernatural origin, using their powers for good or evil. Knowing you, it will be evil. I do not mind working with second hand words (termed fan fiction) but I enjoy creating something new as well. Any of these options will be viable, as long as you just have fun.

Please remember though, that I am patient. If you do not think that there are any words available for it now, just wait, we will come. You can participate at any time during the month of August. Ideas come and go, but words remain forever.

I would please like to attach the following link to prove the validity of my statement.

Letters frozen in time arrive after 60 years – Telegraph.

I would like to thank you for your time and know that I will see you soon. If you cannot come soon, please be at ease, for I am always patient.

Your Words.

Time travel theory avoids grandfather paradox

What a relief!

I’ve always been fascinated by time travel so when I saw this link, I just had to click on it. Of course, I believe very firmly in my own time theory but I’ll leave explaining it for later, lol.

For now, I just thought I’d share this piece of information so that our grand parents can rest assured, and we can reproduce with ease, knowing that our great grand children won’t come back to kill us from the future… 😉

Time travel theory avoids grandfather paradox.

Birthday Bunnies

So. 22^nd of July.

My Birthday.

I have done a lot of things on my birthday, from spending it in a doctor’s office to try and determine how badly my hand is broken, to cycling through the woods outside Aberdeen in Scotland. I’ve had good birthdays and bad birthdays but never, ever have I been peed on by a baby bunny. I had wanted to write a post, telling you about what I have gotten for my birthday, but instead I thought I’d put that one on hold till the end of the week and rather tell you about Joey and Matthew.

They are not bunnies actually, but little tiny rabbits – by my guess about 2 weeks old, maybe as old as three but no more. They were rescued by my Other Half after their mother had been killed. Other Half shared the duty of feeding them with a friend, but unfortunately the friend is ill, and the duty fell on Other Half alone. Now, my Other Half is SuperPerson, but unfortunately, doesn’t have a lot of experience in baby animal rearing. So, when I saw them in the back of the car today, I figured that I might as well act as substitute aunt until things settled a bit in Other Half’s life. My nurturing instincts were flying through the roof, (I JUST WANT TO HOLD THEM!) and the only way to get them back in hand was to get it out of my system. So, when Other Half left, I leapt onto the internet, righted all the wrongs, and set about babysitting the bunnies.

What Have I Learned?

Baby rabbits can be fed on Kitten Milk Replacer, a very common milk powder that you can buy at any vet. They only need to be fed twice a day (though in the beginning, it’s easier to feed them a little more) with the following feeding guidelines:

Newborn to 1 week of age: 2.5cc/ml per day.
1 to 2 week of age: 5-7cc/ml per day.
2-3 weeks of age: 7-13cc/ml per day.
3-6 weeks of age: 13-15cc/ml per day.

At 3 to 6 weeks, its important to start introducing your baby rabbit to oat pellets and hay (roughage) so that you can wean them at about 6 weeks of age.

What Have I Experienced?

Pure, female hormone overload. I am way to broody for my own good. But, in general, I have to say, that of all the animals I’ve had reared (lion, chimpanzee and sheep alike…) these are (so far) the easiest to feed. Although small, it’s easy to master the technique of putting the tiny spout of the 1cc injection that I use into their mouths. If you have two, all the better, they keep each other warm!

The Best Part?

Both of them peed on me tonight. Now, some of you might find this weird but to me, it’s a great sign that they are no longer dehydrated! 😀 I like baby rabbits, even if they make me smell, lol.

And my Birthday?

Super.
Some days just flow so well, like a set of traffic lights that only give you green on your journey. I have learned today that I am very fortunate and very very lucky with my friends. I love them all dearly, because they have gone to great lengths to make this day absolutely wonderful for me.
So, thank you to all my friends. To my Other Half and, to the bunnies, for showing me that pleasure can be found in simple, smelly things. 😉

Alyssa