*Shades of Death

Intro: This story started out as something completely different. I was going to have Pete be the main character and do it that way, but this idea seemed more interesting.

Carl didn’t enjoy the walk to school. That wasn’t new. The walk to school was often a run, avoiding the dogs, and bullies, and sometimes the bullies’ dogs. They were the worst.

This morning, Ripper, the Rottweiler caught him in the dark alley behind the drugstore. The teeth sinking into his leg made him scream. Generally speaking, Carl didn’t think men or boys should scream. This was something he often discussed with his friends. Yelling and hollering were fine, but screaming and shrieking should be left to women and girls. Carl screamed. He fell and the rest of the dogs were on him.

“We’ve killed him.”

“Let’s get out of here.”

Carl might have enjoyed the ride to the hospital, if he was conscious. He died on the operating table half an hour later. Blood loss.

When Carl woke, I was there to comfort, greet, him.

“What happened?”

“You’re dead. I just have a few questions for you. Truthfulness is key.”

Carl patted himself down. Dead was live to dead but dead to live. It took some explaining. If you were dead you felt alive. If you were alive, you felt alive. If you were dead the live felt dead.

“What is your name?”

“I’m dead?” Carl looked around. The world was faded, but Carl’s body was in the body bag. It was best to get this over with before the family came.

“Yes. That is the situation. Your full name, please.”

“Carl Gordon McFinnigan.” His voice was tremulous and his lip quivered.

“You’re doing well. Three more questions. How old are you?”

“Fourteen.”

The body bag was moved to one of the cold lockers. I was in luck.

“Are you dead?” I asked.

Carl stared at me, his brows pulled together. “Am I dead?”

“It is a simple yes or no question.”

If he thought this question was hard, I was in trouble. The last questions always tripped people up. Not a good sign.

“Yes. You told me I was dead.”

Carl showed more promise than anyone gave him credit for. Most of the time people accused him of being slow. In the time that I was shadowing him, I learned he wasn’t slow, but I must have not been paying attention.

“Last question. I have to ask it for formality’s sake. Do you believe what I tell you?”

“You told me I was dead.” Carl said.

“Yes I did.”

“I believe you.” Carl looked around. “But, why can’t I see you? Are you a ghost?”

“No. But I am here to offer you a job. If you don’t want it then you can just proceed to the afterlife.”
“Will I go to heaven?”

“That isn’t for me to decide. Pete takes care of that.”

“St. Peter?”

“No, he doesn’t actually have a name, that I know of. We just took to calling him Pete because he wanted a name.”

The light came on. We fled with the darkness. Let the living remain with the living. The toolshed in the school yard was a perfect place to talk.

“What is it I am supposed to do?”

“You will become a guardian angel.” I went on to explain the duties. We couldn’t always save people from death, but we could offer protection and guidance.

“So do I get a pair of wings?”

“Not exactly. We are creatures born from light.”

“What do you mean?”
Even now I can see the change in Carl’s body. His colors are becoming richer, darker.

“Remember what your church teachers used to say. That Jesus is the light of the world.”

“Yes.”

“We can only exist where there is light. We stick as close as we can to those we guard. We are their shadow.”

Princess Series

By Jessica Day George

Princess of the Midnight Ball

I am a sucker for fairy tale retellings. I also love Jessica Day George, so how could I pass up reading PRINCESS OF THE MIDNIGHT BALL, which is a retelling of the twelve dancing princesses. Not only does she cover all of the important bits, but she puts her own twist on the story that I love. There is just something about the personalities that makes them seem so real. They aren’t just good or just bad but they are individuals.

The story of the twelve dancing princesses involves twelve princesses who disappear every night and come back from their room exhausted and with worn shoes. The king says that if any man can figure out where his daughters go at night he promises them the hand of one of his daughters in marriage. A soldier named Galen decides that he will try his hand at learning where the princesses go. With the help of the eldest daughter, Rose, he will do all he can of breaking the curse.

What makes this story unique, is Galen. All of the fairy tales have the dashing young soldier, but Galen has a talent that isn’t found among too many people. Galen knits. Once again Jessica Day George has taken some of her Nordic heritage and implanted it in her story. Apparently it was very common to have men knit, especially soldier. Who else was going to darn their socks while on the march. This story is a wonderful retelling of an old classic. Not only do you get to know Rose and Galen, but you learn about all of the princesses and they are unique.

Princess of Glass

I liked the PRINCESS OF THE MIDNIGHT BALL just a little more, but that in no wise means I didn't enjoy this book. This book takes the story of Cinderella and puts a twist on it. I love the main character Poppy, the younger sister of Rose, and I feel Prince Christian and Poppy deserve each other. I was really surprised at the third POV character, which added another element to the story. Some of the things she said and saw really made me think about what was going on. Poppy is level headed and spunky, she is the life of the book and there are times you just want to stand up and cheer for what she's doing and her grasp of the situation.

The reason I didn't enjoy this book quite as much was because I wanted a little slower pace at the end of the story. Everything that happened was amazing and awesome but I wanted it to linger longer than what we got. Now that it has been a week or two since I've read the book I have digested what happened and wouldn't mind reading it again, this time prepared and paying more attention to the details Jessica Day George gives.

Once again, this book makes me want to learn how to knit. I've never been against knitting but the fact that she includes the patterns for the various knitted items is genius. I really hope that this book encourages more people to learn the skill because who knows when you will have to knit a bracelet to keep your friends from falling under an evil spell. This book is great for anyone and is a new take on an old classic.

Where Does the Time Go?

Between Labor Day weekend and the League of Utah Writer's Roundup next weekend, I lost track of what day it is. Sorry this post is coming a little later than usual.

This weekend Moose and I had a blast. His parents visited. They even slept on our floor one night. (Someday we will have a guest room again.) My parents also came down. We all met up at the sheepdog trials in Midway. I was talking with my mother and I made the comment that I don't really like watching professional sports, but I sat for two days and watched the trials. I was trying to come up with all sorts of reasons why the sheepdog trials are better than say the NFL, but it just boiled down to the fact that I just enjoy watching the dogs and their handlers. I recommend that everyone at least see the trials once. It is amazing to think of what these dogs can do, and a lot of them are professional working dogs who help with herding the family livestock. When we get our own place with a fence, we will be getting a dog. I know border collies take a lot of time and energy, but then again I have Moose. My parents' have a dog and her favorite person is Moose, despite the fact that she only sees him about twice a month. He runs her into the ground when they play.

I have also been doing a lot of work for the annual writer's conference for the League of Utah Writers. I am the contest chair and that means getting a lot of information organized from a lot of different people. I think last year I was a little frustrated with some of the contestants. I don't have much sympathy for people who want me to change the rules for them. This year I was able to talk a lot of people through the new electronic submission and the bigger concerns have come from the judges. The majority of the judges I've worked with have been great, but there are a few with whom I just grit my teeth and say, okay, if it is easier for you. This easier for them makes a lot more work for me. The nice thing about this is that I just don't have to ask them to judge again. The other exciting thing about being a contest chair is that it always seems to come down to the last minute. I always feel like I am scrambling at the end. Last year I was up until 1:30 the night before the awards ceremony trying to get all of the entries organized by author, and not by category, so I could hand them out the next night. I hope that this year will be smoother since I am emailing things back instead of dealing with all that paper. But who knows.

Happy Labor Day!

I have been busy watching this . . .

And I will be watching this tomorrow . . .

Come back Wednesday for a normal blog post. Meanwhile I will be enjoying this . . .