Is there someone that you need to meet half-way? Is there something you have half done? Are you half-way to something or someone? Have you ever hit the wall half-way there? Is it better to be half-way there than at the beginning? Are you happier half-way there because you are afraid of the end? How do you feel about half-way?

There are many stories half-way finished in notebooks scattered around the flat. Colourful covers call to me, inviting me in to work on them, but I don’t. The characters always want something from me: life, a point, a page, a scene, a finish to their lives on the page.

They are a plague, these half-finished notebooks. They almost appear to multiply on their own. Like viruses, they infect other notebooks, filling up half way with dreams, characters and places… The viruses are not strong, though. They cannot complete without the human part: me.

I’m not happy with all my half-stories, and neither are my characters. I promise that I will get to them and finish their stories, but I don’t know if I’m up to keeping that promise. All I know is that I’m trying to.

This week you are going to write your acceptance speech. Whether it is your Oscar’s speech, the dedication page from your book, or some other award, make sure it is for the award that is the most important one you can think of. In that moment of accepting your prize, who are you going to thank and why? What would you like to say to the people in your life who have helped you get this far? Who do you need to acknowledge?

To my loving husband, who has saved my life in more ways than just the literal. Your never-ending support and encouragement has inspired me to go places and do things I never thought possible for me. Your love is a beautiful thing that I never dreamed I would be fortunate enough to call my own. You are my lover, my friend and my muse. You make me a better person.

Eternally grateful,

Your Wife

This one should be pretty easy! After all, who knows you better than you? (Unless, of course you don’t want to talk about you.) Your prompt is: me.

A butterfly,
true love’s first kiss,
a child’s cry,
and a starlight wish.

A dance in the rain.
The taste of a snowflake.
The beat of passion
a loving heart makes.

Sometimes darkness
surrounded by light.
Sometimes love guiding,
bringing others through night.

Accept me, love me
for who I am.

I am she.
She is the best I can.

Is there anyone whose life you would swap yours with? What about for one day? One hour? If you did swap lives and then got yours back, what lessons would you have learned? What would you do differently if you could? Whose life fascinates you? If you wouldn’t swap lives with anyone, why not?

You can never truly know what someone has been through to get to where they are today. Sometimes I wonder what people see when they look at me. Certainly not my past, given how shocked they are when I do choose to share some of the things that brought me to Australia. I learned early on not to judge because you never know.

That being said, despite every negative thing that has happened in my life – and there have been plenty, just like anyone else – I would not swap my life with anyone. Some days, it’s because I wouldn’t want anyone else to have gone through what I went through. On other days, I wouldn’t give up my husband and his love for anything.

One day? One hour? Well, now my curiosity strikes and the ability to come back to my life makes everything a bit more appealing. I would swap. I’m not exactly sure with who – it would take a long time to decide – but I would simply because I love new experiences. (Call it writing fodder.) I’ve also often wondered what it would be like to be in someone else’s head or someone else’s body.

Now just to decide who…

Hello everyone!

The prompt for this week is: superhero or heroine.

A hero, Little Lucy was lacking.
Her little friends all thought she was slacking.
She thought and she thought,
then a fun thought she caught!
To be her own hero was cracking.

Do you have a mantra? The original meaning of mantra is something that you repeat to help you concentrate while you are meditating. There are lots of people, however, who use a mantra to help them concentrate in other ways. Do you have one? Do you need one? Would you like one? Can you share yours or is it secret and private? How do you feel about mantra?

“There is so much good in the worst of us and bad in the best of us that it behooves any one of us to judge any of the rest of us.”

While it’s a philosophy I keep rather than a mantra I actively use, it still is something I use to calm down and concentrate when I need to.

I think having a mantra is a good thing. How hard is it to concentrate these days? To sit and focus on something? A lot harder than it used to be, that’s for sure. A mantra is a tool that people can use in a variety of situations.

I don’t see a down side…

I know we don’t very often go fantasy here at Sunday Scribblings, and this doesn’t have to be if you don’t want to go there. It is inspired by this J.R.R. Tolkein quote: “It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.”

The fact is, you could take this quite literally and do a piece on dragons or you could think about what dragons in your life you need to take into your calculations. What large, fire breathing entity requires your attention?

I am my dragon.

I neglect me, though I need care.
I don’t love me, though I thrive on love.
I abuse myself, though I am emotionally a young, sensitive girl.

I am my dragon.

I focus on the fire, the strength, the passion!
I try to harden my scales to the outside world.
I keep the beautiful lady trapped inside my cave.

But I sing to my dragon.
I tell it I will do better.
I start, in little ways, to quell the beast…

…and my dragon is slowly releasing me.

I know that this prompt is absurdly early (I’m just keeping you on your toes!) I am going to a wedding this weekend and rather than have the possibility of having no prompt until late Sunday night, I thought I’d give you your assignment now. The prompt for this week is: event.

Happy scribbling!

A fiction bit this week…

***

Evelyn looked away from the mirror for a moment to the wall to her right. She knew that not far beyond that wall stood Steven, her school years sweetheart. How long had they known each other? Their life together felt as if it had been going on for decades rather than the ‘mere’ eighteen years of reality.

She focused back on the mirror, powdering her forehead once more, though she didn’t need it. The cool of the night made her feel better about holding the event at night. Unexpected and unconventional, to be sure, but she and Steven had agreed it was for the best with the days being so hot in late September.

Nervous flutters made their way around her stomach, and she stared at herself in the mirror once more. She’d dismissed her best friend, Lily, so she could have some time alone to gather her thoughts. And, to be honest, her nerves.

True, she’d never been so sure or excited about a single decision in her life, but surety wasn’t necessarily a cure for nerves.

Was Steven be nervous, too? Perhaps, but he wouldn’t show it. An ideal poker player, he held his feelings and thoughts close to him.

A knock at the door from Lily signaled that it was time, and she stood. Nodding to herself in the mirror, she walked out of her room. Steven emerged from his room at nearly the same time, and they looked at each other. The moment held for one beautiful moment of silence.

Mr. James McCallister cleared his throat.

They all filed into the conference room and sat down in the large, comfortable but intimidating black chairs.

“We all know why we’re here,” Mr. McCallister said. “Everything else has been settled, and now all we have to do is sign the papers to settle the legal ends.”

Lily smiled and squeezed Evelyn’s hand.

McCallister passed the documents to Steven, who signed them without a glance and then passed them to Evelyn. Evelyn did the same and then passed them to McCallister.

He looked at each of them in turn for a long moment. Then he nodded.

“I now pronounce you divorced.”

With a content sigh, Evelyn smiled for the first time in a long time.

What are you fluent in? What interests you? Can you be fluent in anything other than a language? What is your take on fluency?

I don’t claim fluency in anything.

Haha. That would have been quite the short post, wouldn’t it? Anyway, I really don’t claim fluency in anything. At one point I might have said I was fluent in blogging, but then I was overtaken by the wonderfully talented people who actually create blog templates. At another point, I might have said that I was fluent in fiction writing…but all my published writing is either non-fiction or poetry.

In the end, I think it all comes down to a matter of confidence. Oh, I can do plenty of things and most of them well, but I don’t hold nearly enough confidence in myself to claim that I’m fluent in anything. I don’t know when I would be satisfied that I had enough knowledge in any subject to claim fluency.

And I have had many interests over the years…

Paranormal activity, astrology, palmistry, fiction writing, psychology, body language, blogging, HTML, website building, poetry, Egyptian mythology, ancient history, biology (specifically plant life), powerpoint presentations, computer gaming, console gaming (everything from atari to PS2), scrapbooking, card making, stained glass windows and mirrors (using ‘paints’ rather than actual glass), a number of different religions and philosophies…

I think I’ll leave it off at that.

Fluency is a wonderful thing to have, if you have it in a subject/language/etc you are passionate about. However, I’ll take my bits and bobs from all places. I think it makes my background just a smidge more interesting.