My book

[sumbirdy]

I'm putting a book togther for my creative writing class. It is a collection of short stories, poems, and essays. I'm going to post everything here (randomly) one at a time so I can get your views of the things I have written. Hope you enjoy them and if you see anything I might need to change please tell me.

REPETITION

It had been a long day. Isabelle Everland had just gotten off of her forty-eight hour shift at the hospital where she worked. She drove over to her sister Lilly’s house to get her golden retriever, Luke. She wanted a mastiff or a Great Dane, but she couldn’t help falling in love with Luke the first time she saw him in that cage at the run down shelter. He was already older then, two or three years, big and handsome.
Now she was driving down the highway into traffic and the sun that was nearly blinding her. She pushed back her short, red hair from her face and turned on the heater. She turned to Luke and petted his big blonde head.
“Okay, Luke, here we go. Right into traffic. It should be about an hour before we get home, if this keeps up.”
Luke whined and laid his head on his paws.
“I agree,” Isabelle sighed. “I hate evenings like this. Where are all these people going, anyway?”
Up ahead she heard screeching tires and screams.
“What the…?” Then she saw it. The car was coming directly toward her. It was in the wrong lane. She swerved to the right and the car smashed into the one that was directly behind her. She could see into the jagged, broken windows and knew instantly that both were dead…or were going to die soon. All she could do was sit there shaking, saying “Oh God. What have I done?” over and over in her head. Luke put his head on her lap and whined.

It had been a long day. Isabelle Everland had just gotten off of her forty-eight hour shift at the hospital where she worked. She drove over to her sister Lilly’s house to get her golden retriever, Luke.
Now she was driving down the highway into traffic and the sun that was nearly blinding her. She pushed back her short, red hair from her face and turned on the heater. She turned to Luke and petted his big blonde head.
“Okay, Luke, here we go. Right into traffic. It should be about an hour before we get home f this keeps up.”
Luke whined and laid his head on his paws.
“I agree,” Isabelle sighed. “I hate evenings like this. Where are all these people going, anyway?”
Up ahead she heard screeching tires and screams.
“What the…?” Then she saw it. The car was coming directly toward her. It was in the wrong lane. She looked in her rearview mirror and saw the man in the car behind her, looking confused. “If I move, “ she thought. “then he’ll be hit.” She decided to risk her life to save his. This all took mere seconds and she opened the passenger door and shoved Luke out a moment before the car crashed into hers. Before all went black she heard the paramedics talking.
“The driver that was in the wrong lane is alive. Don’t know if he’ll make it.”
:”The woman’s fading fast.”
“The guy in the car behind her is dead. Neck’s broken.”
“Neck’s broken?” she thought. “He died? I didn’t save him? Oh, God. What have I done…?

“How’s she doing?”
“She still hasn’t realized that she can save him. She doesn’t save the man, but she always manages to save that dog.”
“Of course.”
“We are going to have to keep her hooked up to this machine. She’s going to have to realize that she can save him.” We’ll try it again. This is the only way we can help her. Third time’s the charm.”
“But this isn’t the third…”
“It’s the third time today. I have a good feeling about this one.”
“What if she does save the guy? What then? Will it change the past really? Will he be alive now?”
“No. He won’t be alive now, but she won’t know that. It’s already been two weeks since the accident and it will be out of the papers. She won’t remember the past two weeks and that’ll be harder to explain, but that part will be up to her family. They already said they would never tell her the truth.”
“Okay, here we go again.”

It had been a long day. Isabelle Everland had just gotten off of her forty-eight hour shift at the hospital where she worked. She drove over to her sister Lilly’s house to get her golden retriever, Luke.
Now she was driving down the highway into traffic and the sun that was nearly blinding her. She pushed back her short, red hair from her face and turned on the heater. She turned to Luke and petted his big blonde head.
“Okay Luke, here we go. Right into traffic. It should be about an hour before we get home if this keeps up.”
Luke whined and laid his head on his paws.
“I agree,” Isabelle sighed. “I hate evenings like this. Where are all these people going, anyway?”
Up ahead she heard screeching tires and screams.
“What the…?” Then she saw it. The car was coming directly toward her. It was in the wrong lane. She looked at the car behind her and saw a man inside. There were no other cars behind him. She had to save him! She pushed Luke out of the car, jumped out herself and ran to the car behind her. She tugged on the door, grabbed the man by the shirt and pulled him out.
“Wha…?” He stumbled out looking bewildered.
Just as they both fell to the pavement the oncoming car slammed into their cars. Paramedics were swarming everywhere and the sirens filled her ears. A paramedic rushed over to them.
She helped Isabelle and the man up. “Are you two okay?” She asked.
“I’m fine.” Isabelle smiled. “I just have a few scratches and I’m a little shaken.”
“And you?” The paramedic turned to the man.
“I’m fine. But my car’s not…”

Isabelle woke up to bright sunlight glaring through the window. Luke whined and looked up at her from the end of the bed. She felt weird. The phone rang and she got up to answer it. She felt wobbly, like she hadn’t been on her feet for weeks.
She picked up the phone. “Hello?”
“Hey honey, how are you?”
“I’m fine. Mom? What happened? I can’t remember the last two weeks.”
Silence.
“Mom?”
“Oh, well honey, you know. You weren’t feeling so well after the accident and you and that man almost got hit and all. You were depressed and the doctor put you on sleeping pills. You were zoned out whenever you were awake so I don’t doubt that you don’t remember.”
“Oh. Well I guess…” She heard a whine and turned to see Luke standing by the door. “I have to go. Luke wants to go for a walk.”
“That poor dog. He really missed you.”
“What?”
“Oh, well, you know. Bye, darling.” Click.
Isabelle hung up the phone and shook her head. “Weird.” She looked at Luke and smiled. “Come on boy, I feel like I haven’t bee out in the sun in a long time.” Together, they walked out the door.

Two years later, Isabelle was trying to clean out her closet when she found a stack of old newspapers. On top of the stack was a newspaper with the headlines “TWO MEN KILLED IN CAR ACCIDENT.”
“I don’t remember this.” She looked at the date. “Two years ago.” She scanned the paper and then, not believing her eyes, scanned it again. “Oh, God.” She got up, went to the phone, and dialed her mothers’ number.
It rang four times before her mother answered. “Hello?”
“Mom? It’s Isabelle. I found this paper from two years ago. January tenth. It says…”
“Oh, dear. I know what it says. Where did you get that paper?”
“It was in my closet.”
“How did it get there? It shouldn’t have been there. I bet it was your father. He was over there taking care of your house while you were gone. He must of left it there.”
“What? None of this is making sense.”
“Meet me at Sasha’s café for lunch and I’ll tell you about it there.”

Isabelle pulled up in front of the café and took a deep breath. She was about to find out if her family has been lying to her for two years.
“Maybe this is just a joke.” She said to herself “or maybe it’s just a horrible dream.”
She went inside and instantly saw her mother sitting at a table in the corner. She
stood and stared at her for a moment. Her own mother has been lying to her for two years. She walked over there and sad down across from her. The waiter came by and they ordered their drinks. They waited for him to give them their drinks before they said anything to each other.
“So?” Isabelle looked at her mother. “Would you like to tell me what’s going on?”
Her mother sighed. “If I must.” She took a long drink of her soda. “Where do I start?”
“The beginning would be nice.”
“Okay. Two years ago, on January 9th, you were driving down the highway after you had gotten off work. You had just picked up Luke from Lilly’s and you were on the way home. I don’t really know all the details because I wasn’t there but from what people told me, and what I read in the paper, a drunk man was driving down the wrong side of the lane. He was coming directly toward you and apparently you swerved to the side of the road so that he wouldn’t hit you. There was a man in a car directly behind you and he didn’t have time to move before the car hit him. That man died instantly, the drunk lived for another thirty minutes. You thought it was your fault and you couldn’t forgive yourself.”
“Don’t stop. Just tell me the rest.”
“Well, nobody could get through to you after that, you just zoned out on everyone. We took you to a specialist who recommended somebody else. Dr. Williams. Dr. Williams is a genius, he invented a machine that can take you back in time, virtually. The machine gets into your brain and remakes the memory. But every time you could do something different. When you first get hooked up to the machine it replays the memory exactly how it was and you do exactly the same things. It keeps repeating it and you keep doing things differently. I don’t know exactly how it works. Dr. Williams wanted you to save the man, once you did that then that would be your new memory of the event and take place of the old one. You were on that machine for two weeks. Each time you did something different but you never managed to save him…until that last time. That was the memory we wanted for you so he took you off of it, that was two years ago. You always thought that you saved him and I wasn’t going to tell you anything different. I didn’t want you to go back to the way you were. I was only doing what was best for you, do you understand?”
“Yeah, I think I do.”
Her mother smiled. “Good. I know I should’ve told you before, but I just couldn’t.”
“What was the mans name, in the car behind me? I want to visit his grave.”
“Oh, honey.”
“Please,” she looked up at her mother. “Please.”


The wind was blowing her hair as she walked into the graveyard. She walked between the rows until she found his grave. Mick Peterson, 1980-2006, may he fly with the angels. He was so young. Tears stung her eyes. “It wasn’t my fault.” She told herself. “It was just an accident. Things like this happen and it’s nobody’s fault. Well maybe it was that drunk drivers fault. Not mine.” Tears were running down her face and she couldn’t make them stop. She knew that she would never come here again, she just couldn’t. This was the last chance to say what was on her mind.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry.” She stared at the barren trees and let the wind carry the words away.

[sumbirdy]

BALLAD OF A DARK AND RAINY NIGHT

It was a dark and rainy night
The night that her daddy died.
He crashed into a tree
And all night her mommy cried.

It was a dark and rainy night
The night that her friends drove drunk and died.
They ran off a cliff
And her mother held her as she cried.

It was a dark and rainy night
The night that her fiancé died.
He was driving to their wedding
And beside his grave she cried.

It was a dark and rainy night
The night that her mother died.
She was holding her hand as she took her last breath
And her vision blurred as she cried.

It was a bright and beautiful day
The day that she died.
She was laying in the nursing home
With no one by her side.

[sumbirdy]

SPEAKING OF THE DEVIL

She tried to tell herself that she was dreaming but she knew that she wasn’t. She walked through the hall with glass on both sides. She wanted to reach out and touch it, to feel if it was cold, but she was too afraid. She continued walking knowing exactly where she was going as if she’d been here before. He was waiting for her. She didn’t know who he was but she knew he was waiting.
She got to the end of the hall and walked into a room with a single chair, like the one’s in dentist’s offices, and a huge screen in front of it.
“Miss Levins, I’m so glad you made it.” She turned towards the voice and saw a tall man, or was he a man? He seemed to be transparent and shimmering. As she looked closer she saw that his skin was actually moving and that it was a metallic color.
“Please, sit down.” She sat, although uneasily, in the chair. “Now, look at this screen please. This shows your condition on Earth.”
“My condition?” it was the first thing she had said to him.
“Um, yes. You are, I am pleased to say, in a coma. You are, as you would say on Earth, at Death’s door.” He said smiling broadly, as if this was a major accomplishment.
“How…?” She couldn’t get the rest of the question out.
“Questions now. Answers maybe...hopefully never.” He had stopped making sense now. “Knack and all is all it is. Screen please, Miss Levins.”
She looked at the screen and saw herself lying in a hospital bed. Her family surrounding her, her parents crying, her sister holding her hand.
“Now,” he said, switching it off almost directly after it came on. “I have some questions that determine if you wake up r not. I hope you give the wrong answers.”
“Wha…?”
“Question one! Who are you going to marry?”
“I don’t…”
“Wrong answer. Two. What will your first child’s name be?”
Her eyes widened.
“I’m sorry, you took too long. Three. Who was the president in year 3542?”
“3542?! It’s only 20…”
“Nope, I’m sorry. Wrong again.” He said gleefully. “You only have one left. If you get this one right I’ll let you go. It’s worth all the others. Question four. Who is the Devil?”
“You are.” She said.
“I wasn’t expecting you to get that one. You’re smarter than I thought. I guess you’ll go to Earth now. But I’ll see you again…soon.” With that he was gone.


She woke up to bright lights and fuzzy figures standing over her.
“Doctor! She’s awake!”
A tall man came in. she looked at him and he seemed so familiar. There was something about him.
The hallway. The room. The chair. The shimmering man. It rushed at her all at once and she knew. She knew.
“Miss Levins, I’m so glad you made it.”

[sumbirdy]

MY PET

Uno. That word has come to mean more to me in the last two years than a simple Spanish word. That word is the name that I gave to my very special dog, Uno.

When our dog was pregnant I thought, “There’s no way we are keeping a puppy.” When they were born I thought, “We’ll find them good homes.” And when they opened their eyes and we found that one of the pups had only one eye, I thought “Somebody will love him” Little did I know that we would be keeping this one-eyed pup.

I started calling him Uno when he was three-weeks old. He was always sick as a puppy. His immune system was weak and he was always getting infections. He would often get so sick that he wouldn’t be able to move. Nobody thought he would make it. He proved us wrong. My Uno is a fighter.

Today he is perfectly healthy. He enjoys all things dog including eating worms, swimming in the pond, getting his summer haircut, and listening to my ideas of stories that I want to write. He’s a very unique dog. Uno means one and I think that is a very fitting name for my one-and-only one-eyed dog.

[DrKym]

Took me a while to read through it all but very well done.

[sumbirdy]

Thank you. And there's more to come

[Pawsitive Thinking]

I enjoyed reading all of them - very strikingly written

[sumbirdy]

AT NIGHT

Somehow during the dark night
When she was shaking, shivering with fright
She came upon the light of day
Something that seemed so far away.
She seemed to be walking forever
Each step she took, her legs grew heavier
She just kept walking toward that light
Something warm and soft and bright
It was the nightlight that shone in her room
To scare away the monsters and ghosts, I assume
She was in her bed, not on the road
But that was not how the story was told.

[Whisk_Luva]

cool! I love writing!

[sumbirdy]

THE DAY THAT THEY LEFT

They went out one day
To go shopping, or so they said
With feathers on their shoulders
And big hats on their head
“We’ll be back soon,
We’re just going to town
Don’t be too much trouble
Don’t fool around.”
They gave the maid some money
To buy her supplies
They gave the cook a list
Of the food she needs to buy
“We’ll be back soon
Don’t you worry
We’ll do our best
To try to hurry”
After they left
They never came home
And they left their little boy
All alone.

[sumbirdy]

The last four lines of this poem were written by cyber-sibes

PUPPY MILL DOG

If I was somebody else’s dog
I wouldn’t be in this place
If I was somebody else’s dog
There wouldn’t be so much pain to face
If I was somebody else’s dog
I wouldn’t be so alone
If I was somebody else’s dog
I would have a home
If I was somebody else’s dog
I wouldn’t be locked in this cage
If I was somebody else’s dog
I wouldn’t have to deal with their rage
If I was somebody else’s dog
I would be a good dog too
If I was somebody else’s dog
Somebody like you.

[sumbirdy]

MORNING ROUTINE

It was early morning and Scout, a West Highland White Terrier, was up and ready to be outside. He loved mornings, the birds, the children getting on the bus, the mailman who gave him treats, he loved it all. He wiggled out of his doggy-door-he might need to cut back on those treats-and went to wake up Siren, the orange tabby cat from next door.
He went into her yard and looked around. Where was she anyway? Usually she’s…oh, there she was by the tree with her tail curled over her nose.
He crept up to her. “Siren? Siren, it’s morning.” Nothing. “Siren?” He nudged the cat with his nose. One eye slowly slid open then closed again. “Siren? Are you awake?”
“No.” Siren was not a morning cat.
“It’s time to get up and start the day. Come on!”
Both eyes opened and she slowly got up and stretched. “Oh, alright! You’ll just keep bugging me about it if I don’t. You’d make a good fly, you know?”
But he hardly heard her. He was bounding off down the sidewalk, tail wagging happily.
Chubby little mutt, she thought. Sometimes she just couldn’t believe she was friends with such an unorganized, loud, happy creature.
She caught up with him a minute later. He was stopped in front of old Mrs. Hobbers, listening intently, his head tilted slightly, tail wagging slowly.
She sauntered up to them and was disgusted by what she was hearing.
“Whose a coote wittle dawgy?”
“Woof!”
“Does the coote wittle dawgy want a treat?”
“Woof!” Tail wagging more fiercely now, he was getting excited over the prospect of a treat. And this wasn’t even the mailman!
“Oh! And here’s his coote wittle kitty friend!”
Siren thought about hissing but she only did that in extreme cases. Besides, there was a treat involved.
“Oh, this is good!” Scout exclaimed, bounding in circles.
Siren grunted.
After they left Mrs. Hobbers they went to the bus stop. Scout loved the kids and Siren didn’t mind them as long as they didn’t step on her tail.
“Do you think they’ll let me on today?” Scout asked.
“No, I don’t thin they will. They don’t let dogs on the bus.” Siren told him.
“Why?”
“Umm…well it’s complicated, okay? You wouldn’t understand.”
“Oh, here come the children!” Scout bounced up and down. They came and petted him and he licked their faces which produced squeals of laughter.
Siren lay on the grass nearby pretending to be uninterested. What she would never admit to anyone though, especially not to Scout, is that she enjoyed watching the exchange.
The bus squealed to a stop and the children piled on. Scout reached out a paw and stuck it on the bottom step and received a stern “No! Bad dog!” from the bus driver. He seemed upset for a second but was quickly happy again when the children leaned out of the bus windows to yell their goodbyes.
After the bus left, Scout and Siren went to their next stop, the post office. Now this was the part that Siren liked best. The mailman was a no nonsense kind of guy, just a quick hello, a pat on the head, and a few treats.
“Hello there, animals.” Pat, pat. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a few dog and cat treats. “There you go, friends.”
After that, they turned and headed home for a nap and some lunch when all of a sudden a black cat with gleaming green eyes leaped from the bushes.
Siren’s fur raised. “What’s the meaning of this, Buster?” She hissed. “This is my territory and you know that.”
“My humans moved. We’re on this street now so I guess it’s mine.” Buster sneered.
Siren hissed, showing as many pointy white teeth as she could. Her sharp curved claws extended.
She stood up on her hind paws, ready to strike. Buster circled her, sizing up his opponent.
Siren hissed again, low and long. Buster hissed back. “I’m not afraid of you, kitty.”
“I guess it’s a good thing I sharpened my claws this morning, Buster.” Siren snarled.
“You might not have any claws left when I get done with you, kitty cat.” Buster threatened wickedly.
“Nobody calls me kitty cat.” She growled. He circled her again and when he came back around front she pounced.
Fur was flying, claws were scratching. There were hisses and growls and screeches and a horrible ripping sound.
All Scout saw was a blur. He couldn’t see who was winning or what was really happening. He didn’t know what to do. He heard Siren scream and that made his decision for him. He plowed through the cats, his yipping adding to the noise and they both fell to the pavement, heaving.
“I had this, Scout.” Siren said.
Scout looked at both of them. Siren had a scratch above her eye and she was limping. Buster was a lot worse off. His tail was crooked, his ear was torn, and a lot of fur was missing in patches across his body.
Buster struggled to get up. “You win Siren. This is your territory.” He limped off down the road.
“Let me look at that scratch.” Scout said, sniffing at her scratch.
“No, it’s fine. My humans will look at it. It’ll be okay.”
“Okay, I think it’s time to go home now.” Scout said wide-eyed. He hated it when anybody fought.
“Scout!”
“Siren!”
They ran off towards their humans voices. At Siren’s yard they stopped to say goodbye.
“Until tomorrow, my friend.” Scout said.
“Until tomorrow.”

[sumbirdy]

AZA

Sometimes I will sit on my bed looking
Out the window to the field next to us
At the cows, black, white, together grazing
Not making a sound, not making a fuss
And my kitten, Aza, will sit by me.
She does whatever I do, mimicking
Another species, not her own, I see
It’ll have to do for her, following
A human around the house, not wanting
To be left behind, sleeping in my bed
Sitting on my lap, my book, she’s waiting
For me to notice her, to pet her head.
As we sit here looking out the window,
I am the only “mother” she will know.

[sumbirdy]

WAITING

On December 22, 2006 I arrived at the arrival gate at the airport. People were surrounding me, waiting to pick up loved ones for Christmas. There were people with signs, babies crying, people talking about gifts and shopping and how their families were. I paid attention to none of this. Though, my eyes were fixed to the gate. People crowded around me and pushed past me but I stayed in the same spot. “Excuse me, would you like to buy…” I shook my head. They should be here soon. They should be here now. I looked out the window. It was snowing, big lazy snowflakes. What if they had an accident? What if… Then they were there and the noise and joy of it all surrounded me. They were carrying bags and presents and the screaming baby. I rushed to meet them. My family was here.

[sumbirdy]

THE SNAKE

The snake slithers through the grass
Hissing at everything he may pass
Hissssss! Who’s there?
It’s only me in the tree! A pear.
Slithering, slithering, everywhere
He sees something and stops to stare.
Hissssss! What’s that?
Squeak! Squeak! It’s me, a rat!
Rattle! Rattle! Hissss! Hissss!
Mmmm…a dinner that I can’t miss.
Squeak! Cries the rat and runs away
You won’t be eating me today!