A Reprise

Legend is ... my favorite movie right now. I never liked it so much as I liked it now. It has come of age for me. I am inspired, in every way. The way that it metaphorically depicts loss of innocence and maturity reaches my deepest heart.

Cassandra's heart turned over with excitement as she stepped from the bus onto the smooth paved streets. Drommende was a wilderness, but Cristalle was a metropolis. On this typical Monday morning, people dressed in business attire walked the streets, stopped at coffee vendors to order lattes and breakfast pastries. Cassandra remembered the coffee shop where she had had her interview with Dr. Thorn and wondered if it would be close to her laboratory. She would like to be able to go there frequently. With written instructions curled tightly in her hand, she entered the high-rise building before her. The lower rooms were walled with floor to ceiling windows, and morning light filled them with overwhelming brightness. Solar panels lined the walls to power computers and other equipment. "May I help you, miss?" A guard standing in the hall smiled at her in a friendly way. "I'm looking for the elevator." He gestured with a quick movement down the hallway. ...

As she lifted the scissors to cut, a larger hand wrapped around hers. Cassandra withdrew with a cry. "Kell! I didn't see you come in." He took the scissors away. "I take it you got the job." "I did," she said crisply. "Return my scissors to me." "Not if you intend to cut off your hair. What do you mean by this nonsense?" "I can't have long hair in the laboratory. It might catch fire or something." "Look there." He guided her to the window. Below them lay the scattered remains of a centuries-old city park. The benches were near invisible due to growth, while the pond had extended far beyond its original boundaries. Ducks floated serenely on its surface. "We played as children. Do you remember how you prized your hair?" Cassandra laughed a little drily. "Of course. I insisted all my powers as princess lay in my hair. I was haughty. unworthy of the friendship of you and your sister." ...

He wore a waistcoat of dulled black satin and a crushed red velvet vest. His top hat was adorned with a collection of tattered silk roses such as might have been found at someone's grave. Over his shoulder was a sack not half full of his burden, and not very heavy. He whistled and nodded to passersby who were too far in proximity to notice the speculation in his wine-colored eyes. He availed himself of the secret entrance to the underground establishment of his pack, and slung the sack the ground in the entry way. "What news, Lady Cassandra," he called in the practiced tone of a ring leader. "Come and get the post." Cassandra hurried at the sound of his call, rushed to his side before Kell or any other could interfere with the post. "Is there a letter for me?" "There is," he drawled. Cassandra slit the envelope with her fingernail and quickly withdrew the contents. She remained silent as she slowly moved to the window, growing more stil...

Another day of rain... My garden will love this. We bought a couch and love seat today... drove it home in the rain. Now I have to get some reviews done, with black tea and coconut M&M's. Keeping the dream alive, bidding on a 1935 cross stitch pattern and myriad dress patterns. I realized today that I am not comfortable with excessive ruffles And bows. It was a groundbreaking realization as far as my dressmaking. I hope the chickens are okay... I see no sign of them.

so hard and delicious and wonderfully. It does not rain much here so it is always a shock when I hear it on the roof. I ate so much at the pot luck. It was so much fun... I cleaned out the hen house when I got home, and I really wanted to plant my bulbs but I could see it was going to rain. I ate a little of everything, but it turned out to be a whole lot. And I laughed until I cried. I never laugh at work, and I was very conscious of this and tried to shut it up but I couldn't stop. Yesterday we walked around town, and I must say Arlington does not have a lot in the way of historical buildings. The Berachah Home for Erring Girls made me think of Emilie Autumn... On one plaque there was a photo of Victorian women in some society. They all had dark hair and were dressed in white. The women wore long white gowns, all wonderfully differentiated in what I could tell was exquisite lace or little boots, with their hair so dark in a loose bouffant, and it was all exquisite.

that I will have from my favorite coffee house (in this region). Because they are closing tomorrow. I can't believe it. Farewell Coffee Haus. . http://www.downtownroasters.blogspot.com/

I can scarcely believe my ears-great song.

Love to my precious animals.

She had taken the window seat overlooking the deserted city of Drommende. Her black skirt suit was exchanged for a long velvet gown of burnished gold, stained and creased from the ravages of time. She had received it as a gift from her father fifty years ago, when their clan had been prosperous enough to procure fine clothing. Around her neck she wore long chains of amethysts which glimmered in the late afternoon light. "I have always wanted to work in a laboratory, father. I have always wanted to do good for our people." His earlier storm and stress had dissipated, and he merely sighed. "A member of the royal family has never worked." Cassandra glanced at him. "This is no ordinary laboratory, father. The scientists in Cristalle are capturing the wolves-our people-and putting them through a battery of tests, often killing and dissecting the animals, to understand how to defeat our race." She met his shocked gaze. "Then if they learn who-or what-y...

Alarmed, she halted her progress in the corridor and paused, rushing toward the door at the familiar sound of her father's voice. As she caught the drift of words through the door, she paused, her hand on the door knob, and stared at the great wooden impasse as she concentrated. "For your services you have commanded a high price. But the reward is yours. In a year, you may have Cassandra as your wife." Cassandra strained to hear Kell's low reply. Her heart beat rapidly in panic. She couldn't believe her ears. "She wants to work in a laboratory? How absurd. She will have to pretend to be a human every day. And what does she know of this work?" "As she did when she was in school, my lord. And her degree was in animal studies. Even then she was seeking knowledge to help our people." "You have allowed these fantasies? I must see her immediately." As Cassandra recoiled the door was wrenched open, and Cassandra fell forward. "I heard y...

The werewolves lived mainly underground for privacy and protection, while their leaders kept the lower floors of the high rise for themselves. The upper floors were desolate, wind wistfully tousling the white canvases covering windows and furnishings. Long ago this room had been an office. A computer lay partially dismantled across a desk, several of its keys littering the floor below. Leather-upholstered chairs were torn and askew. A coffee mug still lay on the desk near the broken computer, a darkened ring inside telling the story of years of use before its abandonment. In the corners, where paper and litter rustled, Cassandra knew large rats lived, and she did not venture further into the rooms, but continued on the staircase. "Grainne," she whispered mournfully, tears in her voice, "what happened to you? You were the only hope of our people. For a while we have been able to live almost as humans lived." Grainne had left no sign, no trace of the concoctions...

One more try for Twitter

"What, then?" Cassandra asked. "None other live in Drommende." "There have been rumors of angels in Drommende," Kell said. "Avenging angels." Cassandra lifted a brow. "That doesn't bode well for us. But there are scarcely any humans remaining here, and they are friendless. The ancient texts warned of what might come." Kell followed her from the throne room to the antechamber. "I'm going to the observatory. If there are any changes in my father's condition, please notify me immediately." Cassandra smiled to herself as she ascended the stairs. Kell wouldn't mock her authoritative tone, but he should. She didn't know what she was doing, and she hated herself for pretending. Since the herb woman had died, her father had had no way of obtaining the concoction he needed to remain human. As the oldest werewolf, he was fated to spend most of his time in animal form, now only turning human for a few days each m...

Almost paradise except the Backspace and P are still not working properly. But I found out if I keep a text file open (so I don't mess up what I'm writing) and jam those two keys really hard I can get it flowing again, but. I really could use a new computer sooner or later. But this really is paradise with a hot black tea, a pumpkin loaf that was broken and free, and my sweater which was in the truck all day and now all warm. Also I found Cinderella's egg in the back of my truck on my lunch break and kept it on my desk for the rest of the day. Just what I need before I go to the supermarket. This week I will be reviewing data every evening, so I am hurting inside (I'm not exaggerating) that I will be putting off my fairy kei dreams a little longer. I want to make a pink cardigan and embroider a little deer or elephant on it. I want to make something out of my Strawberry Shortcake fabric. I want to finish my ivory dress with the puffy rabbits. Sometimes I am still am...

"Kell, you may come in." Cassandra reluctantly drew her hand from beneath her father's. "My lady, it appears that you were tracked on your way home. A young man following you at a distance watched you enter the building, then left." "I can't imagine why anyone would follow me. There was nothing unusual in my doings today. I had a job interview, then walked home alone." "A pale young man, unusually tall, with rather long, silvery hair. He wasn't human." Cassandra met the gaze of her father's principal advisor. "I did meet someone today who wasn't human. He was the barista at the coffee shop where I had my interview. He did seem a bit interested in what I was about." Kell allowed a thin smile. "That is hardly surprising, my lady. However I must warn you to use caution when making friends. Our people have enemies everywhere." "I want to know more of this man. I had never seen anyone like him before....

I am so interested in the Japanese style fairy kei. I have been following it for a while. Basically it involves wearing things from the 1980's en masse. Brightly-colored tights and leggings, those screen printed T shirts with unicorns on them from the carnivals, plastic jewelry and toy character accessories, such as My Little Pony or Care Bears. Okay, I'm testing my Twitter feed now. Did it work? I am going to color my hair though. I have been wearing it much bigger since I bought some Rave hair spray, but I need to take things further. I want to be Lady Lovelylocks. ?

Cassandra chanted to herself as she unlocked the door of a plain stone building. The sky was darkening rapidly; the wind whipped her long, curly hair around the tailored shoulders of her only blazer. "I think I got it. I know I'm qualified. I know I am. Dad!" Her voice echoed down the shadowed staircase leading underground. A network of tunnels and cavernous rooms lay beneath the abandoned city of Drommende. Cassandra belonged to this renegade population. "Dad!" A far-away growling answered her call. "Dad," she groaned. The echo of trickling water followed her steps as she hurried down the steps, her black portfolio dangling from one shoulder. From her matching handbag she withdrew an incongruous key, ornately wrought of pure silver, on which a dark pink velvet ribbon was tied. Cassandra opened a large, heavy door with it at the bottom of the stairs and as quickly as its size and weight allowed, closed it behind her and bolted it. The growling...

Okay, I have given the timed writing challenges some more thought. My first challenge will be to finish the stories I have started on this journal-The Empty City, and The Soul of the Rose. I don't think it will want to write the same story every day. Monday, I re-wrote the first page of Madelyn . My first writing of it was fraught with passion and pain, and it was terrible. There is something to be said for a cool, analytical mood. However I realized it was a rare thing that I should be moved to work on Madelyn . And I am not sure if I should jump ship on it anyway. I am sort of attacking a whole worship belief , and I'm not sure that's justified. At the same time, when I see or hear something related to that belief that upsets me, I take it to Madelyn and find relief. It's a sort of style related to another story I wrote several years ago called The Ballad of Mary Ellen . They are both country, weedy 1930's-style stories where adolescents learn they can't tru...

Reading Mary using http://itunes.com/apps/Stanza . "MARY→CHAP. I.": The Platonic Marriage, Eliza Warwick, and some other interesting tales were perused with eagerness.

Location: Canyon of the Eagles

In our quiet resort on the lake, I am experiencing amazing peace and freedom. I had no idea this respite was around the corner for me. Location: Ellen Halbert Dr,Burnet,United States

She has him now: he is her lover; she is his darling: she will be far more his darling yet when they are married: the more Robert knows of Shirley, the more his soul will cleave to her. They will both be happy, and I do not grudge them their bliss; but I groan under my own misery: some of my suffering is very acute. Truly, I ought not to have been born: they should have smothered me at the first cry.' At this passage this morning I laughed pretty helplessly. Caroline enters into this soliloquy after watching Robert, with whom she is secretly in love, walking in the moonlight with Shirley. Now admittedly walking in the moonlight is a little suspect, but smothered at the first cry? I wasn't totally sure I should be laughing-but it reminded me so much of Anne of Green Gables and her passionate outbursts. Ah-it is so refreshing to be passionate. It's a very different thing-your needs radiating as an inner star, bursting out through a barrier of reluctance and discretion. It...

Now sitting in the meeting room watching a video about juries. They showed a clip from To Kill a Mockingbird. I had to take off my shoes and coat for the X Ray. Some people said they wished they were at the airport going somewhere. Yes! No matter what happens I get super treats and eats today. I can't wait to start my new Christine Feehan. Location: Chestnut Ct,Fort Worth,United States

I have been savoring the article in Victoria this morning about the pen friendship between Grace Coolidge and Grace Medinas in Chicago, and musing about the few people I have met on the Internet. I would not say they are like me, more that I admire them, and my husband is accustomed to being updated on their doings and receives the information with as much seriousness as if they were truly my neighbors. This morning I gave the chickens water. They have been drinking much more lately and are always out. Watching them trot across the lawn is something I still have to stop and watch.