Wednesday, April 16, 2014

No Bones About It



There once was a man
So the story is told
Who searched the desert
For pure nuggets of gold

He shoveled all morn
Then he shoveled some more
Discovered the head
Of a great dinosaur

Incensed with his luck
He spat hard on the ground
Cussed his poor mother
Golden eggs were not found

He quit for the day
Marked the way with old stones
And dreamt the night through
Of gold dinosaur bones

He visioned the spine
Buried deep in a ditch
Saw himself famous
And quite filthily rich

Come morning he raced
To the site at top speed
The smile on his face
Purely driven by greed

He followed the stones
Guiding him to the west
Located the head
But found none of the rest

He tore up the land
For his dinosaur gold
Continued to search
Though he grew to be old

He never returned
From that gold-digging day
The truth of this tale
Is a might hard to say

Yet legend does claim
As the sun sets for bed
You’ll see him roaming
With his dinosaur head


Chelle Munroe©
April 16, 2014

Friday, April 11, 2014

Kelly’s Unforgettable Story

Part Seven



She waited an additional ten minutes. Feeling nothing like she had that first day, Kelly left the museum.  Tear filled eyes, forced her to drive much slower going home. Thoughts of Todd dying invaded every nook and cranny in her mind and she had all she could do to keep the wrenching tears at bay.
Having no idea what she would find when she entered the apartment, Kelly took a deep breath and tried to brace herself for the worst. Todd was lying on the bed. She bit her lip and walked to his side. “Honey…….” she said, her words barely audible. “Can you hear me?”
Todd opened his eyes. The look on Kelly’s face and her tear stained cheeks told the whole story. “It’s okay,” he said moving his hand to touch hers.
Kelly choked back the heavy tears fighting to break free. “I’m so sorry Todd. I tried and tried. I failed. Oh God I tried.” The dam burst. Kelly slumped to her knees. “I ….I…….I don’t know…..what….to do. Todd, I don’t know what to do.”
Todd managed to reach and stroke her hair. “It’s not your fault, Hon. Not your fault.”
Kelly clutched his hand in hers and kissed it. “It is my fault. I wrote the story. It’s my fault.”  She got to her feet and ran from the room.
How could she ever forgive herself? Why had this happened to Todd? How could a fictional story come to be and destroy her whole life? They were questions that held no answers. Feeling drained and lightheaded, she staggered to the kitchen chair, sat down and buried her head in her arms.
Kelly awoke with a start. Forty-three minutes had passed since sitting down. She rushed to the bedroom. Todd was sleeping. She shivered at the sight. His body was crystallizing and it was now up to his chest. She could see the organs in his body still functioning. She averted her eyes and wondered why they hadn’t been affected, yet happy they weren’t because it would give her more time to try to find a solution.
She turned and spotted the open folder on her desk, the pages of the story left were Todd had been reading them. Kelly moved to the desk and picked up the pages thinking that if she destroyed them Todd would return to normal. She gripped the folder in her hands and began to tear them apart then stopped.
Something inside her told her not to do it. For a few minutes, Kelly battled with herself. On the one hand she hated the story because of what it had done and wanted to be rid of it; while on the other hand, she feared destroying it would obliterate her chances to save Todd. She dropped the folder on the desk and started pacing back and forth. What to do? What to do?
Kelly remembered the bottle of Hennessey and went into the kitchen. She had never needed a drink in her life but this was the exception. She needed something to take the edge off her tension. She snagged the bottle from the cupboard and without wasting time to get a glass, took a long pull. She took another swallow and placed the bottle on the counter.
It didn’t take long for the Hennessey to work its magic. Kelly moved to her desk and began writing. She believed she could change the outcome by writing an entirely different ending. As with so many other things involving the story, she knew she couldn’t revise what had already been written but could write something new.
Once totally focused, Kelly immersed herself into the story and wrote page after page. The biggest challenge was creating a reverse curse using the same made up language she had used to create the curse. When she finished, Kelly sat back and looked at what she had completed, wondering if the words she had penned would do the trick. It would have to do because she had no more left inside her to write. If the miracle was to happen, it would have to be with what she had.
She picked the papers up and brought them to the bed hoping Todd was still alive. She forced herself to look at his chest. She could see his heart still beating and breathed a sigh of relief. “Todd, can you hear me?”
Getting no response, she touched his shoulder. “Todd, I wrote a new ending to the story. You have to read it so it can reverse the spell. Please, Todd. Please open your eyes.”
Todd didn’t respond and Kelly had all she could do to keep from panicking. Instead, she climbed into bed next to his body so that her mouth was close to his ear and began reading the story. She had no way of knowing if it would work and worried what she would do if he were to die.
When Kelly finished reading, she waited and watched to see if any changes were taking place. Every second that went by seemed like an hour. She prayed with all her heart that whatever spirit or forces that had made the curse come true, would now have mercy and reverse it.
Each tick of the clock without showing any changes drained Kelly of her strength and her own will to live. Without Todd, her life would be meaningless. She would never be able to forgive herself and wished beyond all hope that if the curse would not be removed from Todd that it would overtake her.
Completely exhausted and her emotions sapped, Kelly closed her eyes and drifted into a deep sleep.
Somewhere in the distance, Kelly could hear voices and slowly opened her eyes. At first, she couldn’t see anything. She closed and opened them again and realized Todd was not next to her. She turned her head and spotted him sitting in a chair.
“Todd,” she said but no sound came out. Her mouth was dry so she worked her tongue to create some saliva. In a whispery voice she called out to him again. “Todd. Todd.”
Hearing a faint sound, Todd looked toward the bed and noticed Kelly’s eyes were open. He rushed to her side. “Kelly, can you hear me?”
“You’re not dead? You’re alive,” she said, attempting to reach out to him.
“Yes, yes,” Todd said, tears of joy leaking down his cheeks.
“The curse was reversed?” Kelly asked.
Todd looked at her strangely. “I don’t know anything about a curse except the one that has had you in a coma for the last six months. So yes, it has been reversed.”
It was Kelly’s turn to be confused. “Coma? What coma? What are you talking about? You were cursed and crystallizing and it was my fault.”
Again, Todd didn’t understand what she was referring to and squeezed her hand. “As you can see I’m not crystallizing. I’m okay and now you will be too.”
Todd lowered his head, kissed her lips then rang for the nurse.
The End


Chelle Munroe© 
March 20, 2014 






Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Kelly’s Unforgettable Story

Part Six


 
She was only unconscious for a couple minutes. Somewhere in the back of her mind she could hear a distant voice calling her, willing her forward. As she came closer to awakening, Kelly recognized Todd’s voice and was relieved that he had come to her rescue.
Kelly’s eyelids fluttered then opened. She groggily panned the room searching for Todd.
“That’s it,” Todd encouraged her. “Are you okay?”
Kelly concentrated on focusing her eyes and shifted them to the sound. She opened her mouth to scream but Todd’s hand covered it.
“It’s me. Please don’t scream Kelly. I need your help. Please, try to stay calm.”
She grabbed at his hand.
“Kelly, listen to me. I don’t want to die. Help me!”
The word “die” penetrated her fear and she relaxed her hand. She immediately felt Todd’s hand loosen then release her.
“What happened?” she managed to whisper.
“I came home early to apologize and spotted your story on the desk and started reading it and then…..and then….” Todd cleared his throat. “And then this happened. What’s going on Kelly? Please help me and tell me what’s happening to me?”
Kelly pushed herself to a sitting position then felt Todd’s strong hands lifting her to her feet. “Oh my God Todd, what have I done?”
Todd gripped her by the shoulders. “Kelly I need you to concentrate. Things are happening to me and I don’t think I have much longer to live.”
Kelly’s eyes filled with tears. “You weren’t supposed to read it but then I thought it would be okay because it was only a story but it wasn’t and now I’m afraid I’m going to lose you.”
“What are you talking about?” Todd demanded. “You know what’s happening to me? You knew this would happen?”
Kelly nodded then shook her head. “Yes, and….and no, I don’t know.”
Todd led her to a chair. He knelt down in front of her. “Kelly, look at me. Tell me what you know. It’s important you tell me everything and please hurry.”
Kelly told him everything she had told Paula about the story and about her fears of letting anyone read the story, especially him, but how she decided it would be okay and now her worst fears had come to life.
Todd listened attentively, and then said, “That’s all of it?”
Kelly nodded.
Todd moved to the other kitchen chair and sat down. He put his head in his hands and sifted through Kelly’s words, hoping to find the answer that would keep him from dying.
Kelly forced herself to focus on the situation at hand and desperately tried to think of any details she might have forgotten to mention to Paula or Todd. She wiped the tears trickling down her cheeks. Looking at Todd made her want to cry all the more but she knew if she were to keep him alive she would have to come up with a solution.
She cleared her throat and very softly said, “Do you think if I were to go back to the museum I could get an answer?”
“We have to try,” was all Todd said in an equally soft voice.
Without saying another word, Kelly rose from the chair, grabbed her keys and pocketbook and headed out the apartment. She moved along the hallway in a dazed-like state oblivious to the other people in the hallway and elevator.
Outside, the fresh-air snapped her back to the moment and she rushed to her car knowing that time was of the essence. She had no idea what she was going to do once she got to the museum but just like when she first started to write the story, she now felt compelled and was certain that the answer would be there waiting for her.
Thankful for the light traffic, Kelly drove with reckless abandon to the museum. Her heart pounded in her chest as she practically ran through the corridor to the room with the exhibit. She scanned the room for the statues where she had sat the day she got the idea for the story. Two people were seated on the small bench so Kelly stood directly in front of the statue hoping she would get a feeling or idea what to do.
Ten minutes passed and nothing happened. Believing it was due to being too hyper, she closed her eyes and concentrated on the meditation exercises she had taken earlier in the year. Moments later, her body relaxed and she breathed in slowly. When nothing special overcame her, Kelly silently cried. What had she done?   


(continued)

Chelle Munroe©

March 20, 2014


Saturday, April 5, 2014

Kelly’s Unforgettable Story

Part Five



For the first time in days, Kelly felt an exhilarating excitement. It felt fantastic to finally be able to tell someone about the story. She looked at Paula and smiled. “You can’t imagine how good I feel right now. It’s like a ton of bricks has been lifted from my shoulders.”

Paula returned the smile, happy to be a part of Kelly’s liberation. “So it really gripped you that much?” she asked, trying to understand what Kelly had told her.

“Gripped me is putting it mildly. At times you would have thought that I was chained to the desk and yet, it was so powerful and filled me so much I loved it. Can you understand that?”
Paula stared at her friend and shook her head. “No I can’t understand it. If you really want to know what I think, I think you’ve pushed yourself too far. It’s either that or you’ve lost some of your marbles.”
Kelly laughed. “I think for those few weeks, I had but I’m over it now.” She raised her glass of wine. “To the final chapter.”
Paula touched her wine glass to Kelly’s, “To the final chapter and sanity.” She set the glass down and played her finger around the top edge. “And this whole idea came to you after visiting that South American exhibit?”
“Yeah, can you believe it,” Kelly smiled.
Tilting her head, Paula said, “No, I can’t believe it. What about the so-called curse or whatever it was? I mean, how did you come across it and interpret it?”
“I didn’t.”
“What do you mean you didn’t?”
“I made it all up. It’s not even a real language.”
“Let me get this straight. You made up a language; said it was a curse or whatever; then scared yourself into thinking it was going to happen?”
Kelly nodded and laughed. “That’s it.”
“Whatever possessed you to write such a story?”
“I don’t know,” Kelly said. She shrugged her shoulders. “It’s weird because I was at the museum checking out the South American exhibit and when I got home, I had an insatiable urge to write a story and before I could even give it some thought, I
started writing it, almost as if I were possessed to do it. I can’t explain it any better than that. It’s crazy huh?”
“Yeah it is,” Paula agreed, then looking at her watch she said, “I need to be going? Are you going to be okay?”
Kelly smiled. “I’ll be fine.” She noticed Paula studying her so she added, “I’ll be fine. I promise.”
They got up and hugged giving each other a kiss on the cheek. “Call me,” Paula said as she turned to leave. “And finish the story I want to read it.”
“I will,” Kelly said to Paula’s back as she exited the restaurant. In the car, Kelly believed she would be okay because the compulsive feeling to spend her every waking minute writing the story was gone. The thought of finishing the story and making amends with Todd brought a smile to her lips and her heart.
Pulling into the parking lot, Kelly felt even more jubilated at seeing Todd’s car in his parking slot. Before exiting the car, she checked herself in the mirror. “Okay, how do I handle this? I know, I’ll let him say what he has to say and take it from there. That’s it.”
She opened the door and slid one leg out and pulled it back in. “No, that’s not it. I should apologize first to show I think he is more important.” She nodded her head and looked straight into the mirror. “He is important and it’s the right thing to do. Settled.”
She got out of the car and hurried to the building and was happy to see that one of the elevators was already on the bottom floor. Kelly pushed number 8 and willed the door to close immediately. It had a mind of its own and took its sweet time closing even though she kept stabbing the “close door” button.
On the eighth floor, Kelly turned right and moved quickly to the end of the hall. She paused in front of her door and took a few deep breaths before turning the key in the lock. She opened the door and stepped inside. She set her pocketbook on the kitchen table, looked at her appearance in the mirror and fixed her hair. Kelly walked into the bedroom.
At first, Kelly’s mind didn’t comprehend what she was seeing but once it cleared and she knew what she was looking at, she froze. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Somehow, her mind cleared away the fog and Kelly half-screamed, then fainted.

 

(continued)

Chelle Munroe©

March 20, 2014



 

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Kelly’s Unforgettable Story


Part Four



 
Not knowing that Kelly was having lunch with Paula, Todd decided to take half a day off from work so he could go back to the apartment and straighten things out with Kelly. The main thing he wanted to do was to apologize for having insinuated that she would stoop so low as to cheat on him. In his heart he knew full well that that was something Kelly would never do and was angry with himself for having let his temper get the best of him.
He couldn’t even say with any conviction that he felt hurt by her not wanting to let him read the story. It wasn’t that it was so life-changing or threatening that it should have bothered him the way it had, and try as he might, he couldn’t figure out why he had had such an outburst. Whatever the reason, he wanted to apologize and make things right with her.
“Kelly,” Todd called out as soon as he entered the apartment. “Listen, I want to apologize for my remarks last night. They were way out of line and I never should have said what I did.”
He went into the bedroom and not seeing her there, checked all the other rooms calling her name as he went. It wasn’t unusual for her to be out in the afternoon, but after the past two weeks where she had hardly left the desk, it seemed strange to not see her there writing.
Without further thought, he made a coffee and stood by the kitchen counter drinking it. With cup in hand, he walked into the bedroom to look out the window at the parking lot to see if Kelly had returned. He waited a few minutes then turned to walk back to the kitchen.
On his way out the room, Todd glanced at Kelly’s desk and saw the open folder with all the pages in it. At first, he took some steps, and then stopped. Looking over his shoulder at the open folder, he spun on his heels and went over to the desk. He fingered the pages and read a few lines on each page.
Before he knew it, Todd was sitting down engrossed in the story. He wasn’t an editor or an expert in the writing field, but he knew good writing when he came upon it. He also believed that it was the best story Kelly had written and almost felt guilty for reading it without her permission. At the same time, now that he was gripped by it, he couldn’t put it down. He flipped to the back page, looked at the page number then glanced at his watch. Calculating his reading speed, Todd believed he could finish it in a relatively short period of time.
Before he started back in on the story, thoughts of how Kelly had gotten upset with his wanting to read it before it was finished sprung into his mind and he now   understood why. It was a compelling story. He recalled her words that she was afraid he would jinx it and somehow it seemed right. She must have sensed that it was her best story and didn’t want anything or anyone to interfere with her creation.
Midway through the story, Todd felt a strange sensation wash over him and sat back in the chair. Almost as fast as it had come, it passed so he continued reading. He had read many stories before but none as compelling and interesting as the one he held in his hands. Not because it was written by Kelly, but genuinely a fantastic story in its own rights.
A few pages later, he felt that strange feeling and leaned back in the chair. He didn’t feel sick or anything like that just weird. He wasn’t dizzy or queasy or even lightheaded. He picked up his coffee and stared at it wondering if maybe there was something wrong with it. Lifting the cup to his lips he took a small taste and didn’t detect anything out of the ordinary with it. In fact, it tasted real good.
Once again the feeling passed and Todd began reading again. He was so amazed and so impressed with Kelly’s ability to write that he couldn’t help pause every now and again to think about her creative genius and how he had never realized it before. One thing was certain; he would do everything in his power to help her get the story published.
Todd flipped the next page and knew he was nearly finished. He glanced at the words and wondered how the story would end. He devoured and absorbed each word, letting them work there way into his mind, creating a picture and feeling so vivid, he couldn’t believe it was just a story.
He went to turn the next page and realized he couldn’t feel the paper and presumed his hand had fallen asleep.  Lifting his arm, he shook it to get the blood circulating in it again, but the pins and needles sensation of returning blood didn’t happen. Todd looked at his hand as though he was staring at an alien being, and tried willing it into action. Nothing happened. It was then that the fear reared its head.
(continued)
Chelle Munroe©
March 20,2014