Quillrosetellsstories - Quill Rose

The Way Smell Evokes Memory

            On a hot summer afternoon, after a day of playing in the sun but before retiring to play video games, my mother would always shower. She loved spending time with us on those rare free days when all five of her girls were home, and she wasn’t working one of many jobs she held down simultaneously to provide. Our job was to set the living room up, since she didn’t understand and wasn’t willing to learn how to work the equipment. She would emerge in a puff of steam and a waft of perfume. Unwilling to wear shorts outside, those days she was even willing to don a light summer nightdress. We each peeled off at different times in the night, smart enough and independent enough to dictate our own bedtimes. With a yawn, I’d announce my departure. My mother was never short on hugs, pulling me in and holding me, understanding of the importance of that contact. Rich vanilla and rose and a creamy, heavy shea butter: the last things I’d smell for the night.

            When riffling through the cabinet before moving out, I discovered the exact lotion she would use. Her ‘yes’ when I asked to take it was distracted, unaware of the significance. Although, I don’t use it much.

A list of nice words we should use more to describe people

Adventurous : willing to undertake new and daring enterprises.

Affectionate : having or displaying warmth or fondness.

Ambitious : having a strong desire for success or achievement.

Amiable : diffusing warmth and friendliness.

Brave : not being afraid of danger.

Considerate : showing concern for the rights and feelings of others.

Courageous : able to face and deal with danger or fear without flinching.

Courteous : characterized by politeness and gracious good manners.

Diligent : characterized by care and perseverance in carrying out tasks.

Empathetic : showing ready comprehension of others’ states.

Exuberant : unrestrained, especially with regard to feelings.

Gregarious : temperamentally seeking and enjoying the company of others.

Humble : marked by meekness or modesty; not arrogant or prideful.

Impartial : free from undue bias or preconceived opinions.

Intuitive : obtained through instinctive knowledge.

Inventive : marked by independence and creativity in thought or action.

Kind : behaving in a caring way towards people

Passionate : having or expressing strong emotions.

Philosophical : meeting trouble with level-headed detachment.

Practical : guided by experience and observation rather than theory.

Rational : having its source in or being guided by the intellect.

Reliable : worthy of trust.

Resourceful : adroit or imaginative.

Sensible : able to feel or perceive.

Sincere : open and genuine; not deceitful.

Sympathetic : expressing compassion or friendly fellow feelings.

Witty : demonstrating striking cleverness and humor.

“you gotta love yourself, baby. if you don’t, who will?”

— sharon g. flake, the skin i’m in

NaNoWriMo Update One

I want to keep updates posted of my progress this month but I find that I'm not keeping track based on word count, but on chapters. I do want to share my breakdown though--

100,000 words total

5 sections of 7 chapters each

20,000 words per section

2,900 words per chapter

This is the outline I'm using, so when I've finished a chapter I assume it falls into this estimate. In the end I'll run a comprehensive count. As long as each chapter is near 3k, I don't fret and move to the next.

So far, I have 8 of 35 chapters finished and it's the 7th day of NaNoWriMo. I could pick up the pace...

Teaching in 2020

              Second grade was hard enough

                The seconds turn into hours

                Screens turn to staff as

                Students turn their screens on and off

                Teaching students slipping out of their chairs at home

                Teaches us what we thought we already learned

                Too raw is the view into the houses of inner-city youth

                Exposed to their reality;                my past too.

                When the day is over, we rub our burning eyes

                We say it is easy when we are pioneers

                Fighting our exhaustion and creeping mental instability

                Has us fighting our love for our career.  

Blow negative thoughts every day, to make room for all the beautiful things that life gives you every day.

Excerpt from Otherworld: Volume One

Cluck. Jo looked down, one foot raised. Underneath sat an orange and white chicken. It tilted its head at Jo’s foot, blinked beady black eyes, and clucked again. 

         “Is that-”

         “Roast!” A deep voice called. Surprisingly, the chicken answered. It flapped its wings as it went running down the path. The chicken named Roast squeezed between two fence posts to dutifully return to its owner. 

         “Sorry, we’re just passing through,” Jo called to him. 

         He put his hands to his pointed phyrra ears and yelled, “What?” 

         Jo walked closer. “We’re just passing!”

         “Oh, well welcome. I’m Kho, this is Roast.” Taller than most phyrra, Kho was only a couple inches shorter than herself. He had sandy chin length hair, honey colored skin, and dark freckles dotting his face. A wispy beard decorated his chin and jaw. His clothes were dirty and patched over, and his hands were closed around a pitchfork that he set to the side to scoop up Roast. Kho lifted the chicken’s wing gently, waving it up and down. 

         “Hm,” Maven grunted over Jo’s shoulder. “Never seen that before.”

         “Her brother Toast should be around here somewhere.” Kho looked around the yard, shading his eyes against the sun. 

         “Toast,” Lola echoed over Jo’s shoulder. 

Cluck.

A brown and black chicken looked up at Lola from behind her. Toast drew back his head and pecked at Lola’s ankles with all his might. When she shrieked, Jo had to cover her mouth to avoid laughing. Not everyone else on the team had the same courtesy.  Kho looked between them.  “Where are you all… from?” 

“We’re… well…” Jo trailed off, unsure how much to share with this random farmer. 

“We’re headed from Lekonis,” said Lola carefully, “towards Ipbo. We hear they’re debuting airboats for the holiday.” 

Kho looked between Glade sweeping their tail behind them to ward off attacks from Toast, and Iila, who was trying on her most winning, and most terrifying, grin. “Alright then.”

The sun beat hot on the farm. Animals were sheltering under woven awnings and lapping at water gratefully. Jo thought about her own empty canister. “Would you by chance have water for some friendly passersby?” 

Kho looked apprehensively at the weapons at their belts and slung across their backs. He shrugged and waved them forward. “Thought you wouldn’t ask.” He didn’t sound happy; in fact, Kho’s voice was trembling.

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Do you ever wish to not exist?