A Brief Story

(Please note: Ah! If you're looking for Milo, scroll down one post and you'll find him quite enjoying himself...Until then:)

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I'd begun to post some excerpts from book # 2, a novel-memoir that I thought I would be able to share here, at least selectively. But I'm learning this is not the time or place. Much of the story is too raw, too personal, too unfamiliar, too risky even, to be putting out while I'm still in the deep process of figuring out what and who I'm actually really writing about.

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So to those of you who started to follow my characters, they'll more than likely be back, but not now. Instead, I've decided to write a story a week, with one self imposed guideline: the complete story can be no longer than one paragraph.

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Perhaps a loosely defined paragraph, but that's all. Mostly Short. Brief. Concise.

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Contrition

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I had left three (vague) messages before I finally reached him at the rectory. He sounded gruff.

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"What's this about?" he asked.

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"My mother can't live alone anymore and she won't move in with me because I'm a lesbian."

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Pause. "Well, its not her sin."

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Slience: The sound of smashing glass.

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"Father...I am not interested in discussing this with you. I just want you to tell my mother it's okay for her to live with me."

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"Well, you are her daughter." Pause. "That's the most important thing." Pause. "Okay, I'll tell her."

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Pause. "Thank you Father."

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Silence: The sound of breathing out.

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The changes in red were added afterwards. When you read the comments, you'll understand why. Even stories are in the eye of the beholder... xoxo

Milo is an Extrovert

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I've been surprised to find Milo up and ready to greet me first thing each morning. He patiently waits until I pour my first cup of coffee and then there's no stopping him: he talks about anything and everything: his life in Deborah's closet, the wonderful visits he has had with Cori and Rhonda Roo and Marie and Godeliva, his hopes and dreams for true love, and his plans for the day. Who knew Milo was such an extrovert?

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He's gotten advice about upgrading his wardrobe;

Cuddled with Angel Angel who then introduced him to Esther and Mildred.

and the four of them have sat on the couch for hours shooting the breeze.

He's spent time on with these two,

who have taught him multiplication tables

And he's been befriended by Francine,

who's given him a cooking lesson

Milo has had no difficulty charming his way into the hearts

of certain ladies in the household

but it was surprisingly discovered that,

in addition to his fear of large dogs,

he is also afraid of geese.

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But a little patience and encouragement

saved the day:

Recently Milo and Dolly have been almost inseparable,

except when Milo and Stella relax together.

Milo joined everyone for Thanksgiving Dinner,

and it was then that a major surprise occurred,

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preceded by Emily Rabbit innocently introducing him

to her cousin Rowena Rabbit.

We tried not to look....



But don't they both look a little stunned?



To be continued.....

Six Word Saturday: Signs

True

Inspiration

Comes

From

Many

Sources

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Giving Thanks

I've been trying to think of a picture that will show how I feel these days. I suppose the closest I could come would be a heart filled to capacity with the love of family and friends; that still has room for the new and abiding friendships I am so cherishing; and that has one corner of emptiness, a space vacated but still occupied by love, concern, memories. That is a space that try as I might I cannot replenish with bitterness or revision, even when I think I have reason. And that's okay with me. I actually want to just find a center of peace there.
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Time does have healing powers. I look around and I see the faces of special people who make my life worth living: my beloved daughter Jess; my loyal loving partner JB, my grandchildren and son-in-law, my friends who never let me drift too far, who hold me and catch me and who have listened to my whimpers and confusion for what should have been too long, but for them it never was. I am lucky in love, very very lucky.
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But on this Thanksgiving I want to thank three special women, my spiritual sisters who I hope to hold on to until the day I die. They are special in that our friendship and connection together has come from the blogs. I wouldn't have believed it possible.
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1. I call her Pumpkin Pi. In one year she has become an intrical part of my daily life. We phone one another with one made up survey after another; sometimes I can barely get the words out because one of us is laughing too hard. You may know her as Studio Lolo. To me she is one of my dearest closest friends and I would do anything for her. She listens to me for hours, has walked with me on a rockyroad, again and again, and she never lost patience with me. We have a fierce protection for one another. She is generous, almost to a fault. She is one of the kindest people I know. She is super smart, not the kind of smart that comes from books, but from life and experience. And she is an incredible artist. Her art is heart-ful, soul-ful, wise, and wonderful. We speak a common language. We now know we can trust one another to be ourselves, even to disagree knowing the other will listen, will try to understand. I love you, Lo. I know what you're probably thinking: Iiiiiiii know!
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2. We met over pizza before we met in her treetop. She is beautiful in every way, her soft voice and gentle ways calm me instantly. She paints houses that fly and sing, in happy colors and sometimes they have wings. We are both private people who have learned the skills of being social, and in some ways we are both shy. I don't think either of us jumps lightly into relationships and I think we both take our time in the trust department. But I believe she feels the same way I do now: we are friends for life. I would hop on a plane in a moment's notice if she asked me to. She has given me the most balanced and direct advice in a way that is unique to her: it makes me stop and think, and it helps me grow. I always feel I am a good, a worthy person with her-what could be a better gift from a friend than that? I just love being her friend. I love knowing that she knows she can lean on me when needed. Oh valgal! We will meet here and there, we will share, we will be there for one another. Your friendship is precious to me. Someday I am going to pay you back for what you have given me this year. You can count on it.
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3. Well, I've never heard her wild Australian accent, I don't know the meaning of some of the words and phrases she uses. I've never hugged her or held her hand or enjoyed the sound she makes when she laughs. I don't really know how she dresses or drives or what her eyes look like when she greets her two beautiful white horses. But I know she takes the time to talk to me straight and true. She doesn't pretty things up, she is the first one to kick me in the ass and tell me to get over it. She has a strength about her that covers her vulnerability--once I called her a crusty marshmallow and I don't know if she liked that or not. She is just so real, so genuine. I see her as so courageous , so willing to be engaged in life no matter what gets thrown at her. She and I will meet in person without a doubt--probably we will sit on my couch and catch up before I show her New England, maybe New York too. Honey Hells, you mean so much to me. Do you know? I am a dreamer and you are a pragmatist. And I think our hearts like it that way. You shine a light in the darkness for me sometimes. Do you know?

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. If you would like to write about some of your special friends who make your life rich, please do. What could be a better topic?
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Thank you Goddess. Thank you Universe. I don't know if I deserve these wonderful friends, but I accept them gratefully. I only hope somehow, someway, I give as much as I get.

Animal Wednesday: Milo Arrives at # 9

Hello everyone, it's me, Emily. It has been a very busy week around here. First of all, we raised $ 435 for the Wishes & Dreams Foundation--can you believe that??? I haven't decided whether to give my $ 15 but if I do but I might not but if I do that would make $ 450. kj says we are all wonderful and this time it's really true, right?

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Anyway, a couple of days ago Milo the Millennium Bug arrived from the Netherlands. I don't know if a bug is an animal or not but he started off in Arizona where he lives with Deborah and he is touring the world on vacation.

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Milo was exhausted from the trip. But the worse part was that is is afraid of large dogs biting him into little tiny pieces and eating him. When he saw Stella he hid in the bathroom and stayed there for hours.

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But finally Milo ventured out. Everyone was nice to him, even Stella tried .

So he moved closer.

And closer.

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And closer.




Until finally Milo and Stella shared a cookie and then fell asleep.



Next I am going to introduce Milo to Francine and Esther and Mildred and Angel Angel and Frank and Dolly and the rabbits and that's not all. Now that he is no longer afraid of big dogs kj will pay me an extra $ 10 if I promise not to teach Milo how to throw frozen peas at the windows or throw temper tantrums. I am still thinking about that.
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Meanwhile Happy Thanksgiving if you are giving thanks and do you think I should take the extra ten dollars?


Sincerely yours,


Emily Rabbit

p.s. kj is very upset that I put up pictures that show those wires from the tv. she says she doesn't want anyone to get the impression that she has wires everywhere, because this is the only place, and only until jessie the carpenter builds a shelf for the tv up on the wall. Personally i don't care about the wires but you know how vanity can flare up sometimes with certain people, so please don't say anything about the wires and actually it would be even better if you don't see them at all so you don't even know what i'm talking about. thank you from emily.

Healing & the African River Martin

For Human Being, Sonia, Annie, myself, and for _____.

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You may have seen this before. I recently shared this poem with a blog friend. I told her that when I wrote this I was filled with both foreboding and hope. I remember both feelings so clearly: I had begun to accept the inevitability of distance, but I also was secure in the endurance and flight of love.
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I was wrong.

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What I believed then is beyond crumbles now, a year later. Have you ever had to face letting go of some one or some circumstance you thought would be part of your life forever? It's no fun. It's confusing, sad, depressing, shocking.

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And yet. Love has its own strength. It can survive in the harshest circumstance, even with broken wings and barren ground. I'll let the poem explain the rest.

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Wounded Bird
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Part 1
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A swallow can fly miles, from treetop to ocean cliff,
The wind's undertow buoyantly gliding her
To a resting place of warm possibility..
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She is free, lifted higher by duty and family,
Not a thought outside of weather and wind,
Acceptance and choice safely within her span.
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But then, jolted in flight,
her heart pumped deep
And she is transformed,
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The unknown and unfamiliar
In that very moment,
A broken wing reclaiming
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Something lost and ancient
Spiraling deep and desperate
Into the habitat of hidden.
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Some species heal their wings
In solitude, licking and lying
In a nest of thin twigs
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Healing from within
Until they can fly again,
To and from home.
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But other species do not heal
And they tuck that wing
Underneath themselves,
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Landlocked and less,
The natural order
Injured inside and out.
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That species will push on
Practicing, praying, pretending
That wings are but a crutch;
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Meanwhile hoping that reverse gravity
May rocket them up and open them wide,
Heedfully whole to fly again.

Part 2 (My Side)
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I fly from necessity
Hovering over leafy trees and endless water,
Following an inestimable path from home
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Only to return again,
Where I’ll find my roots and rhythm
Deeply tucked in grainy sand.
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I do not question why I do this--
This destiny of family and fate--
What I cannot fathom I will not change.
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My twelve feather tail and meager wing span
Weigh in below two ounces,
Not enough for my survival
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And yet I maneuver and endure,
I doggedly sing my song
And tuck my broken wing
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Under my expanding and rapid chest
Until I know if
I might fly again.
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If I should die here
Unable to lift myself beyond this place
I will fly anyway
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Straight to this indomitable future
Where I will be an African River Martin
tending and fending
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Reaching still and always,
Weightless in my belief
That I was born for just this moment.

Light & Easy

I can't do it.

I posted a poem last night but this morning when I read it, it is too heavy to follow Emily Rabbit's exciting charity event.
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Check out the post before this one if you want to contribute to Wishes & Dreams or if you want to see the finish-line results of Marianne and Caroline's auction.
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Meanwhile, thank you Sonia for your kindred comment on the poem. It will resurface in a couple of days. For now here's light and easy. And true.

xoxo

Give It Up! by Emily Rabbit

TA DA!

The very lucky winners of Marianne and Caroline's art are:

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Marianne's Mandala:

kj (can you believe it?) $ 70

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Caroline's Surprise Painting:

Oliver & Debra Kay $ 85

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This does not include all the contributions kj and I received, cash and clothes and good deeds. Even I Emily Rabbit am very touched to see all this kindness. However, I will now resume being my bratty self, because I am actually more lovable that way. kj says she will add up all the donations and announce a total soon. We did good, everybunny, I mean, everybody. HAHAHA

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lOVE

Emily V.V. Rabbit

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Hello Everyone, it's me, Emily, finally. I had to wait for kj to show off her pictures of Santa Fe but here I am now. For one more time only I am going to be very polite and sweet and keep my promise to do something nice for this Wishes & Dreams Foundation that kj likes. After this I will be my whiny and complaining self again, ready to remind you how to cry deep from your stomach and kick your feet in the air when you want your own way.
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When I mentioned that I am doing a good deed a few weeks ago, I got some nice responses so now I am here to collect the money and see who else wants to be nice with me this one time.

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There are three ways you can contribute, remember?

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1. kj knows a very smart 13 year old girl who is in foster care and has had a hard time and wants acting lessons. If you like this idea, the best thing to do is to send kj a check. If you email her, she will send you her address.

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Or if you have this thing called Paypal, you can send money to kj's email from there.

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Or you can order a copy of kj's book right here on her blog at the sidebar and she will donate $10 to where ever you want. If you don't want the book you can order it anyway and instead of sending it to you kj will donate all the money except the tax.

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Or it gets even better. But you have to wait a minute until I finish with this list and you will see.

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2. The other thing you can do instead is to help this doctor named Maithri who works in Swaziland Africa and helps children who don't have mothers or fathers and need everything, even clean water. If you want to donate here, you should go to http://possibledreamsinternational.org/ and you can give whatever you want right there.

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3. And third, you don't need money for this one. Just do something nice for someone and don't get caught. But you have to tell me or kj what you did because it will give someone else an idea of how to do something nice, maybe even me.
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And don't forget: for everyone who makes even a dollar contribution I will have a drawing to see who wins and the prize will be that I, Emily V. V. Rabbit, will be a guest writer on your blog AND I will write about whatever subject you want me to write about .
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Now wait until you hear this!!!!! Do you know my best friend Marianne? Well she and kj's friend Caroline have both offered one of their original paintings to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.


We are talking about very good art here--see for yourself:



This is Marianne's mandala. It is a big one 10,6 x 13,8” (27 x 35 cm) Watercolor, ink micron pen glitter and pearls. kj already has a bid of $ 50 for this so you have to pay more than that. But I can tell you with my own eyes that this mandala that my best friend Marianne painted is worth a year's supply of jellybeans at least, plus they bring you good luck. So if you want it you can have it plus you will be doing something nice. kj says to tell you that the highest bidder decides where the money should go, to kj's client or to Dr. Maithri.
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TA DA! And now for Caroline's painting!!!! It will be a surprise painting but here are some examples of how fantastic she is.

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If you get Caroline's painting you can talk to her about what you might like and what she will paint something for you. I bid my $15 on this already and can you believe it that kj bid $ 25, which I thought was very selfish of her so I really don't want her to win so I hope someone else will bid more than $ 25.

I will leave the bidding open for 48 hours, which around here means until Sunday night. I know there are alot of good causes to give money too but I am the only RABBIT doing this and I think that is a good reason all by itself for you to help out, besides it isn't every day that I stop whining and complaining and do this instead, so maybe if this works out you will end up being a good influence on me, which maybe will be good but then again, maybe I'm better off kicking my feet and crying from my stomach....
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Some of you asked if you could send presents along with contributing money. kj says that is fine. In addition to her 13 year old, there is 4 year old Angelina, 5 year old Xavier, and 10 year old Daria. And there is 48 year old Alice who only has one pair of clothes. kj says she looks like she is a size 16.

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Anyway, so far Suki has already made a contribution and here is who else I think said they wanted to:

Debra Kay

FireByrd

Margaret

Lori Ann

Chic Geek Ms. Kelly

Melissa

Marion

Mim

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And don't forget, it doesn't have to be money, it can just be a good deed. I hope some new people and maybe even a few rabbits will join in. My Uncle Bunny might be able to--he has money from selling rabbit pellets, remember?
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So that's all I have to say today. Oh, one more thing. kj said if I get 25 comments she will pay me my $ 10 this week. And if I do and she pays, I am going to buy jellybeans. I am. I don't care if you think I should contribute that $ 10 too. I've done enough. I am only a little bunny and here I am raising money and hoping for the best. I think that's enough, don't you agree?

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Next week I might teach Margaret how to play.

Sincerely yours,

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Emily Rabbit

A Longer Intro to New Mexico

Important Note from Emily Rabbit: kj is paying me $ 25 dollars to postpone my weekly story until tomorrow or the next day. She is really only paying me $ 10 but she said it will be $ 25 if I donate the extra $ 15, which I will because I know it will make me look good and maybe I will feel good too. So when I come back I will tell you how to make your donations too, okay? Plus we have two auction-raffles to raise money to help someone during the holidays, I will tell you about that too. But for now, it's kj's turn. I hope what she says is interesting this time. Sincerely, E.R.

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Let me be totally clear: this is me, kj. Emily is sulking in a corner, counting her money.

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In the last four days, I found out I wasn't too familiar with the American West. If I were asked to choose only two words to describe the Santa Fe-Taos area of New Mexico, I would say VAST and COLORFUL. I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves. Except first, there is one thing I want to say because it's been on my mind.

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When I checked my blog throughout the day today, I was struck by how happy I was to see each comment. It was an insight, really, because I realized I have never felt so wonderful and excited about my blog friends and visitors to my blog as I do now. Over time I have somehow ended up with the most special group of people. Several I know will be friends for life and two women in particular are pretty new but I know I want to hold on to them. The people who visit my blog bring me a joy and comfort that I can hardly explain, but I do want to say thank you to each of you. You are very special to me, and I am so glad and appreciative that you take the time to come here.

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Now....the pictures:

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and finally, the finale:

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Three cheese Enchiladas: $ 8.50

Enchilada, Taco, Tamale Combo $ 12.00

Eating Mexican food twice a day: Priceless

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............ hahaha....xoxoxo ..............