Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Writing Books

One of the best ways I communicate personally is through writing. I have always been much more open when I am writing letters, poems, blogs etc.. There is just something about writing that persuades me to open up and I love having that release. I guess one thing a lot of people wouldn't know about me is that I have always wanted to write a book. I love to read and I have a pretty vivid imagination. I always start to write the beginning of books, but so far none have gotten farther than the first chapter. Here is an example of my latest attempt/idea:

The Sound of Thunder

A smile slowly crept across her otherwise emotionless face as the storm clouds rolled across the mountain tops. She had been sitting on her roof for only a few moments waiting for this storm to arrive in the small valley where she now lived. The smile grew wider across her face as the first thunderclap permeated the otherwise quiet scene before her. She only had to wait a few moments before the first raindrops dripped softly down her face eventually soaking her through in a torrent of droplets. She knew this was the best part about moving here, nowhere else had she seen storms of this magnitude and wonder.

She loved thunderstorms, rain, lightning, the way the thunder sometimes seemed to shake houses, the overcast skies, deep and darkened storm clouds; she loved all of it. They first captivated her as a little child, her mother used to take her onto the back porch and make her watch the storms over the lake in the little town where they lived. They had scared her at first, the thunder so loud and the lightning so bright and powerful: but once she came to love those storm clouds she could never get them out of her heart and she was excited about every potential storm. She could never explain to anyone else how much she loved the rain (and snow) and the clouds that accompanied the precipitation; how she almost preferred the cloudy skies to the sunny ones. Nobody understood that, at least almost nobody.

Once she was thoroughly soaked through, she climbed down off of her little roof and slipped into her back door, the thunder still sounding all around her. She warmed herself in a quick shower, threw some dry clothes on and grabbed her favorite blanket off the bed in her room. She excitedly bounced down the stairs, through her front door onto the veranda. Thankful the storm was still going on around her she settled down with her blanket into a chair and started to read a book, the sound of rain and thunder as her background noise. She was so lost in the book she was reading she almost failed to hear her cell phone ringing.

With the smell of the rain still fresh in her nose, she scrambled around to find the phone she'd left somewhere in her small two-story house. By the time she found the phone it had stopped singing her favorite song, set as her ring-tone of course, but the icon popped up indicating that she had one missed call and a new voice-mail. It was from her sister Kayla, she sighed to herself, grateful she had missed the call. She fidgeted with the phone in her hand for a moment wondering if she should listen to the voice-mail. Finally she flipped the phone open, and after another long hesitation she decided she'd just listen to the first part of the voice-mail and then make a decision as to whether she needed to listen to the whole thing.

Her sister's familiar, yet worried voice came over the speaker as she put her ear up to the phone, "Hey Ellie, it's Kayla... *sigh* I was hoping you'd pick up but I guess I can understand why you want to be left alone... I just want you to know I love you and I'm here for you. Please call me back. We're really worried about you, especially since you just took off after... well anyway... I know you're going through a hard time and..."

She quickly shut the phone before the tears could form in her eyes. Angrily she threw the phone back onto her kitchen counter and went back onto the porch. Taking a deep breath in she inhaled the smell of the rain and took a few minutes to calm herself down. Ellie told herself that she didn't need to get worked up about all of this, that everything would be fine, she could do this on her own. A few hours later after she had finished her book and the thunderstorm was gone she went back into the kitchen. Two more missed calls, both from Kayla, but no new voice-mails thankfully. She knew Kayla was just trying to help, but she just needed to be alone.

Ellie didn't realize that coming here to Leadville, Colorado would make her sister worry so much. But surely even Kayla could understand she needed space, a twinge of guilt passed through her mind because she knew that Ellie was all the family the Kayla had left in the world, except for her new husband Jackson. Kayla and Jackson Sanderson, the happy couple had married just a few months ago, right before Ellie ran off. Her younger sister was small, brunette and beautiful, the sweetest person you have ever met. She would be fine without Ellie, she had Jackson now and they were the perfect fit.

Ellie knew she needed to get her mind off of "home" and off her sister and just clear her head. She slowly walked up the stairs into her bedroom and stood in front of the long mirror, just staring at her reflection. She was quite tall, 5'8" with an athletic build. Her long dirty blond hair cascading in waves beyond her shoulders and halfway down her back. She looked into her green eyes and wondered when they had started looking so sad and tired. She was a naturally pretty girl and hadn't ever had trouble getting the attention of men. Of course then she had met Charlie... at the very thought of his name Ellie sank to her knees in uncontrollable sobs, willing the world to just go black.

1 comment:

Jamie said...

Is this one going to make it through the first chpater? Also did you know Brady has written a book?