Daily Revelation

For anyone who reads this...I just wanted to share something with y'all that I think I'm slowly starting to learn. I've been thinking a bit about people in general, life choices, personalities, and how things change in the course of life...and somewhere in the course of my random thought processes, I got to wondering and connecting thoughts, at least about my own life. And I think somewhere in there I had a revelation. It went something like this:

Will I let others define me? > Shouldn't I define myself before they do and stay true to who I am? > Who am I? > Shouldn't I strive to be like Christ in all ways? > In order to strive to be like Christ, wouldn't you have to know who He is and what He's like? > If you wanted to know who He is and what He's like, shouldn't you first know Him? {by reading His word}

I don't know...but it just kind of hit me today how important a relationship with Christ is, especially for Christians. In order to "know" Him, I have to spend time with Him and want to be with Him. And then maybe...maybe on my way to being marvelled constantly by who HE IS, I'll find out more and more who I am. {Which is small and insignificant.}

I've heard it said before, "A woman should be so lost in Christ that a man should seek Christ to find her", but I think that applies here too, in a way. Well, that's my two cents, if you will. Take it or leave it. I'm done with life lessons. For now. I'll never be done with life lessons. Maybe I'll be done blogging about life lessons...the lessons themselves should never end. ... Then I'd be dead. And they'd be death lessons. And that sounds morbid. ...or maybe I should just stop rambling.

Ciao, and God bless you!
~ Bonnie

Thanksgiving!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I mean it, y'all! I walked down the stairs this morning at eleven something and I went straight to the kitchen to discover my mom playing Christmas music and the candles lit with a great big turkey ready to be cooked sitting on the counter. Isn't it a cool feeling when you know Christmas is coming? I already have that mindset...it's something to do with the air, the candles, and no school. I love it! Eep!

Coming back to Thanksgiving...here's a tag for anyone who still reads my blog. {Dedicated readers, I applaud you. You should get...erm...mini turkeys.}
List ten things/places/people/occurances/events/anything else you're thankful for! I'll go first.

1. The fact that I live in America, where we're free. Woopie.

2. The fact I go to a Christian, private school. I give thanks for the people there as well as the general environment.

3. My church. I'm thankful I still go there, and after everything that ever happened, it's still my family.

4. My family. Without them, I know I wouldn't be who I am today, and that's something I will always be thankful for.

5. My friends. If I'd put them at the top of the list, I'd probably seem clingy. jk! But I love my friends. Through my life, though it's short and only beginning, I've met so many people that mean SO much to me. I can't even put it in words. And I KNOW for a fact that without them, something would have happened and a whole chain of events would have been effected...like in Back to the Future. My friends are such a blessing, and I can honestly say I'd die for any one of them. I love y'all so much!

6. Music. There's a certain feeling of ... I don't know how to describe it besides "awesomeness"... when you realize everything you're feeling/experiencing can be expressed in words and rhythm that others can relate to and hear and sing. When music rings out and voices join in to words you can feel so strongly...it gives me a shivery feeling; I don't know about you. {I guess the same can be said about words and writing.}

7. Grace. That should probably be at the top of the list. I'm thankful that we're not all drowning in a dying world, and that God loved us enough to send us His only Son to take our place and punishment.

8. Internet. ... that's probably pretty bad...but I am thankful for it! Without it, I wouldn't have met Marina, Render, Cless, Levi, and numerous others. Also, it's good for news and stuff. *laugh* The news...ha...nah, that's good for my geography project that I'm procrastinating on.

9. Food. Do you realize how BORING life would be without the flavors and varieties of food? I mean, how amazing is it when you bite into a chocolate-covered cake? Or ice cream? Or ohmygoodness a chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes, mac-n-cheese, a roll, and a coke? God could have designed us so that we didn't need food, but I'm SO glad He didn't!

10. My room. Or a house in general. Basically, my own space to be completely alone with my thoughts, God, and a notebook. With music always playing. And friends' faces lining the wall with the window. And a nice, comfy bed, with people's notes and signatures grafittied on the sides. And all my books. Mmm...isn't that a great thing? To have your own place to simply think?

Ok, well, I've just wasted a good percentage of your time, so go waste mine! Write your own! {jk; anything y'all say wouldn't waste my time. :D}

~ Bonnie Spinner

Shoutout

This is a shoutout to a friend of mine who had a birthday a few days ago, on the 20th, to be exact. Shawn, if you're reading this, I hope it makes you smile. You are amazing!! If we lived closer, I'd hitch-hike a ride to your house and throw you a surprise birthday party! *hugs* You have always made me feel like I have a friend I can talk to, and I love chatting with you about everything! :) I'd give you a great big fuzzy sock if I could, but I'll guess I'll have to wait and give it to you next summer.

Happy Happy Happy belated birthday, my dear horse-riding, fun-loving, sweet-sounding friend!

{A cup of chocolate-chocolate ice cream for you and a white rose, because you make me smile like chocolate does and you always help me to see the beauty in life...like a rose. Even if it smells like a flower. ;)}

First attempted Christmas Poem

Hm...it appears Christmas this year will come with many poems, including one Render and I accidently wrote...Render will be black, and I'll be green

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, nothing was stirring, not even a mouse…..
But the cat was awake, and hungrily roaming, for something to place in his mouth that was foaming.
And the little Dog laughed to see such sport, for he alone had nothing to contort…
The humans were snoring inside of their beds, and their dreams became twisted inside of their heads...
They dreamed odd things, and of lame pleasure, like running in circles or killing things with feathers. A monkey screamed, Santa felt under attack, because of loss of balance which is something old people lack.
The war had begun, and none were the wiser; for Mr. Bill Gates had become a poor miser.
The portals were opened, and worlds were reversed; radio hosts stopped talking and mimes conversed.
Conversing Mimes? One might think that ridiculous, but as you say it, it seems quite hilarious.

A jumping turtle ran faster than light. That monkey and Santa got in a big fight.

Help came for Santa after he threatened to croak. It was too late, his heart had sadly broke.

All the good children, both good girls and good boys, sat around a Christmas tree, without nice presents or toys.

Render sat, laughing hysterically, that all these people took Santa Literally.

But Bonnie said, “Santa isn’t fake, How couldn’t you believe for heaven’s sake?”

Thanks, Render. Hope that made you laugh, smile, scratch your head, or douse yourself in vegimate and enter a kangaroo-boxing match...cuz I know tha'd make me smile.

Ciao and have a good day! ~ Bonnie

Randomness

Ok...here I go...attempting to be my random self again. More up-beat this time, though. Hm...I want a bagel. And chili. I hope that's for dinner. Oh! I burned my tongue a few days ago. Now the tastebuds are all white and everything. It's kind of weird...feels weird whenever I rub my tongue under my teeth.

I'm basketball manager! And we had a game Friday and a tourny Saturday. We lost. :( But I had so much fun managing with my senior friend. She's going to five me her volleyball shoes, if she remembers. Woop! That'll be cool. Anyway, I was having so much fun marking stats with my mechanical pencil. I felt so confident and important and unofficially official. I was keeping stats...from the bleachers. Well, not bleachers. They were like gigantic stairs. *wide eyes* They. Were. Awesome. You could lie down on one whole stair! It was really cool. We went to Subway as a team, too, and had fun there. :)

Hm...I think I should stroke my chin and try to look profound. :D Too bad you can't see me. But that might be kind of weird...cuz then you'd be a stalker. *alien music* Ok...I feel like if anyone is dedicated enough to read this weird post about me, I should do something for them...so...*throws a golden trophy at the first commenter* Congrads, you got the "coolest commenter with a golden trophy and a bruise on their head" award. :) Have fun. Let me know how much it's worth.

~ Bonnie

Fragments of a dicombobbled mind

Confused. Tilted head. Contemplative. Happiness. Joy seen through another's eye. Appearance of one. Guilt. Sigh. Melting. More confusion. Regret. Wondering what words spoken shouldn't have been and what words unspoken should have.
Thoughtful eyes. Pursed lips. A knowledge of things to do, nagging the background of thoughts, like a timer ticking ready to go off. Dreams, thoughts, hopes, fears. Trying to meet standards not meant to be met. Chained by standards and expectations or the longing to fit in, to be someone. An underlying, rejected truth: to be someone, you shouldn't fit in. Judgement. Misspelled.

Apathy. Curiosity. What if? What now? Shackles of the world, of friends, of family. Tip-toing on broken glass. A longing just to do it because I can and not to care what anyone says. But once the moment is over... Rules. Meant to break? Meant to bend? Meant to chain? Mind. Meant for thinking. Fingers. Meant for writing. Chocolate. Meant for comfort. Legs. Meant for running.

Responsibilities...duties...things to do, read, write. Time. Time slips, fades, stands still for breathless moments in the corners of the mind's hopeful eye. Never. Pathes crossing and twisting. Friendships. Where they have been, how long they'll last, where they're going, how they started. Pain to watch, helplessly, as boats sink filled with those loved. Longing to tell them simple truths only they can discover for themselves. Want to be a friend. Just a friend. How to be a friend? I don't know. I don't know. Nothing. Anything. Everything. Circles, endless, like a DVD player stuck in fastforward. Sigh. Thoughts. Fragments. Notepad. Decipher it if you can. Take what you will. Clueless. Confused. But still...Happy to be human. Happy to be me. Are you? Retorical question. Your turn to think.

I hate Modays...

I hate them because of reasons I love. Such as I have choir during study hall which means I get no work done and end up with a bunch of homework at the price of being able to sing without people "shushing" me during class. Then, after school, I hitch-hike a ride with a senior and go to b-ball practice and "manage" them, meaning I spend two hours pretending like I can play basketball. By this time, my homework still hasn't evolved into a superpowered paper that will finish itself. Darn. I guess evolutionists are still working on that. After that, I have exactly one hour to go home, eat dinner, and cram as much homework in as possible before I go on a two-hour tv marathon with Chuck and Heroes. It should be noted that it takes a good twenty to thirty minutes to actually GET home. So that leaves me around nine o' clock, still sweaty and with everything but Health to do.

Thus is why I didn't respond to any emails, phonecalls, or smoke signals today. Sorry. I'll catch up tomorrow and read the second half of my Biology assignment...

Oh. On the upside, I made up for those tests I failed in Biology by making a 99 on my 9-weeks test. :) Ok, enough celebrating. I shall now slide down into my chair, wish I was outside enjoying the cold night air, and wonder why they put tenths of fractions on gas prices.

OH! Ohhhh!!! One more thing. Today, dad and I were talking, and we've decided that as soon as it's physically possible, which means maybe in a few weeks, I can take drivers ed so that by the time I'm 15 I can get my permit. *excited squeal* Ok. Done with that. Ciao and have a better Moday!

Is it a plan?

Alright y'all. Here's what Will and I thought up, so please tell us if it'll work.

Place: Will's house

Time: 6:30-10:30 at night

Date: October 11th {next Saturday}

What: old Twilight Zone marathon

I'm thinking we all get to Will's, have a fun time watching movies and all that, then when it gets late, the guys could sleep over at Will's house while Marina and Chair come over to my house and sleep over. My mom can get us all from his house to my house, so Marina and Chair can ride with me to my house. Ok, so that leaves everyone at two different locations come Sunday morning. How would y'all feel with coming to our church and then after going home? My mom could probably take Marina home, if her mom or dad doesn't want to come get her. Any thoughts/suggestions? Will this work? Marina, Chair, and the Moonarrows, is next Saturday coll? Please give us some feedback here.

Thanks. ~ Bonnie

Fish Camp

Here's a brief run-through of the past two days...

Yesterday, all the fish had to carry around the Senior's books to their classes. My senior was one of the ones who kidnapped me, and I had to scream "MOVE!" to anyone in her way. Marial's made her excalaim, "All hail {enter senior name} the great!" at the snap of her fingers. That was fun.

Also, our class was SUPPOSED to wear orange, but we planned to all wear blue. We got "punished" and had to have x's drawn on our forehead and cardboard signs around our necks. That was less punishment than we thought we should get, but whatever.

We decorated our black t-shirts, which were all supposed to wear, and I got to do Marial's because she didn't want it. Let me tell you, that shirt was AWESOME. I didn't have a shirt until last night, because I forgot, so I went home and did mine....

Now...for today. Oh cheese...

Today was fishcamp...but fishcamp started at lunch. At lunch they were *record-scratch* Wait a second...let me start at the beginning and work my way up....

Ok, so I get out of the car this morning, with my gym bag, dressed in my "clean clothes". About five steps away from the car, I realize that I had forgotten my packpack. Ok...great...typical Bonnie move. I get into class and everyone's excited and wearing their t-shirts and all, and then I'm like, "Oh, Mrs.S? Can I change my shirt, because I was brainless and put 'Fish Camp '09 ' On my shirt...and it's 2008!!" So, I somehow got it to look kind of right. In short, my morning was just one of those "Yeah, I'm stupid, but who cares, because I'm happy and hyper and that's just the way I am, SO LOOK OUT SENIORS!" mornings...if you know what I mean. Any sane person doesn't know what I mean, but I'm not sane, so ha. ... ya know? <--that's for Rae Rae, if she ever reads my blog...

Ok. So we do Bible, somehow. Then at the end, Mrs.C comes in and tells us we'll be performing some football halfgame show like synchronized swimmers and we have to make up a routine. Uh....wow. It was completely CRAZY trying to get a group of freshman to do as much as TURN together. That's how Spanish class went. Next came Biology and Health. Now, Mrs.C is our Healthy and Bio teacher, and she also happens to in the seniors' homeroom. And, of course, we're the awesomest fishies ever, so in those classes, we cover the seniors' lockers with orange caution tape, ribbons with 'freshman' on them, stickers, balloons, caution tape, and pictures of fish. It was a work of art.

Word got around school FAST, and everyone came to admire our artwork. One senior {my senior book-carrying-person} was just like, "Ok...that's cool...you just wait till fish camp." Another charged me and nearly ran me over. Interestingly different reactions there.

Ok, now it's lunch. Oh cheese...so sometime during lunch we see two people from Student Council kidnap someone...then I walk with my friend Rae Rae and they obduct her too! I run to the classroom, where there's like 3 people, and tell them. We decide to hide. Me and my friend...uh...Winnie...yeah...Winnie...hide under the teacher's desk. A few seconds later, a senior barges in. They find us but they don't capture us, so we re-hide. Of course, then I pick a bad hiding spot and the people come for us and take me. *rolls eyes*

They took me behind the building where all the other captured people were. A senior dressed in purple sitting behind a table asked me, "Who is the 9, 008, 078, 563th person born?" I stared at him and replied, "Me!" He pounded a gavel into the table top and said, "You are guilty of being a fish!" I was lead behind him and had my face painted with gold and purple {school colors}. Then I got in line with the other fishes. Soon they had all of us and we watched as people tried to escape. That was like...the best part. Almost. Idk what the best part is, yet...

Once they had everyone, a senior announced what our first task was. We had to duck-walk down the deck, in front of all the school. {For those of you who don't know, duck walking is a kind of walk where you squat down and waddle that produces aching thighs.} Of course, we couldn't do it right, so halfway through they made us go back and start over.

After everyone was done, we headed over to the football field for a waterballoon toss. It was predictable but still unfair that the freshman had to use a dinky napkin to catch and toss with and the seniors got tablecloths. Even though we cheated, they still ended up winning, and they threw balloons at us. Yo, someone hit me in the eye so hard I thought I would go blind. No joke, true story.

I think then we headed over to the slab, behind which was a tarp with spriklers. It was wet and slippery. They gave us a rope and we played tug-a-war against the highschoolers. We broke two ropes and a hose, but hey, we were strong. When they finally gave us a thick rope, freshman conquered. Of course...when we didn't, we all slid across the wet piece of plastic, but that was fun.

Hm...what else did we do...oh yeah. Sometime during the day, we were on the field and we did relays, but the seniors won that too because everything in fish camp is rigged to make them win. We bought snowcones and hotdogs. YUM! Then we played football *makes face* But it was still funny. The seniors took off their flags but we got in trouble when we took ours off...go figure. Go fish. And then we did our little half-time dance thing. That was interesing...they made us do it twice because the first time we were too far away. Then we got punished and had to do more duck walk.

The grande finale was back at the wet tarp, where we got into lines {each line was a class} and the first person in each line would slip and slide onto the tarp and wrestle for a bar of soap. It was hilarious and so much fun to watch, as well as participate it. I didn't know people could fight so viciously until I saw our highschoolers fight over a bar of soap. Somehow I ended up getting some Freshman spirit award thingie. Guess what it was. A hat! :D They announced who was on student counsel. Then we had to dry off {which was impossible}, change into our clean clothes, and wait around till it was time to go home.

And that's about it. Ta ta for now, folks!

~ Captain Bonnie Spinner, a fish

First day of HIGHSCHOOL

Hey! Ok, I'm really happy-hyper right now, so warning: extreme randomness may occur. This is probably going to be a long post, so if you don't read it all and just post a comment like "Gee. Great post. Thanks for sharing." I'll know you didn't read it all, but that's ok, because it's long. *stops rambling* Let me shtart from teh begginning: {yes, I meant to spell de vords vike dat}

I had a dream last night that for some strange reason I was late for the first day of school, and I got there at the nick of time and had to get the worst seat. For some reason, when I look back and try to remember what that was, the only thing that comes to mind is a seat in the front of the class squished between two suma wrestlers....that's a little weird....

So this morning I got up and answered like three texts {I missed Marial's wake up call because my phone was on vibrate~ HA!!!!} and soon we were on the way to school. We being myself, my dad who was driving, and our carpool person. I glance at the car's time and it reads 7:56 when we pull into the school's parking lot, which means we didn't have to run. However, we were still late and I STILL got a front-ish seat! AHH! But anyway, it was good being back with my peeps. We were all excited and wouldn't shut up. It's funny, because later this week, we'll probably be like "Uhhhhh....school......." but now we're all hyper. :D

When we got there, we went to the auditorium for a brief intro or whatever then we got our books for Spanish with our homeroom teacher. OOHH!!! Our room is the senior room, so we have LOCKERS! The only downside is we don't have our combos yet so whenever we closed them we realized we need to get a teacher to go open em again. :D See, this day we didn't DO anything really except for get our books and schedules and everything like that. Ok, then we went to um um um...oh! Health and Biology! Which is with Mrs. C from last year. They're back-to-back classes in the same class room. Then we went to ... hm .... where did we go after that? I really don't want to get up to look at my schedule...

I think we had lunch next. Ok, so we're officially highschoolers now, so we can sit outside on the deck. BOOYAH! We're all excited and everything, so we get our lunch boxes and food stuffs, open the door, and step outside to be blasted back by a wave of heat. Halfway into lunch we discovered sitting under the sun in black shirts when it's 96 degrees isn't a good idea and so we used our new roaming privileges.

We visited a few of our fellow highschoolers' rooms and eventually I stuck with a senior and my friend DJ. I had pulled this little crossword puzzle thing from her purse and was working furiously to figure it out as they walked around the deck, up to the office, and back again with me in tow. Soon the bell rang and the senior left and DJ went to advanced math.

Wait...I wasn't in advanced math....I was in Geography...I blinked and stared at my schedule, then had to ask someone for help, and we both glared at the schedule. The schedule claimed that Geography was in the advanced math class room at this time...but that couldn't be right....so where was I going? Eventually we figured out that we were reading the schedule wrong and I was in the class next door. I walked in to the cries of my last name {my nickname} and laughter. :D LOL!! It was so funny. I had to explain that I had gotten lost in my own school that I've been attending for - what - seven years? No. Nine years. {why did I say seven?} To make matters worse, the class was GEOGRAPHY...where you learn about maps....which help you NOT TO GET LOST. Lol, it was hilarious. :D Anyway...

Then came Algebra 1. Now. We had taken the first half of this book last year. A nice pace for me. Half a lesson each day. I'm slow in math...that was refreshingly helpful. Now our favorite math teacher has left *sobs* {we scared her away....} and we find out we're doing the whole book! All of it! Starting at the BEGINNING! Why? Because of some smart 8th graders who are taking the class. *banging head* ARG! Why they gotta be so smart, huh? I wasn't this smart...they shouldn't be. {jk} Anyway...we did little easy lesson one {just for that I'll probably miss like 5}, which she assigned odds to. Halfway through her lecture, when we were all working ahead, my friend who came back this year whose last year was 5th grade asks me for help on question 10.

"Uh...Garbanzo bean...we're doing odds," I said, as we bursted out laughing and immediately hid our faces, trying to duck our heads behind the people in front of us. lol! Poor bean...but I had started doing all of them too...so....yeah...what came next....?

OH! English came next! And the teacher doesn't seem that bad after all. Sure, I say that now...
I found out that summer reading wasn't actually REQUIRED and I did all that work for almost nothing! I SPEND LIKE THREE DAYS OF MY VACATION ON THAT!! ARG! So...I'm not sure how it's all going to work....about the reading...but anyway...mo...

Then was Study Hall. Good ol' study hall. I think this is the period when some days we'll be taking electives...but we haven't gotten that far yet...soooooo then we all went to the pick up lines, I hitch-hiked with some goober who took me to some place where I went through lots of pain. Oh, the goober is a highschooler from school, that place was the gym, and lots of pain would be the two-thirds of a mile that we ran, which was sad because that means we're out-of-shape; we can usually run a mile.

Ok...so...that was my first day of high school and I think it went rather well. I'm so looking forward to this year! AHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh man! Oh man! I can't wait! WOOHOO! All my friends, all the activities....I LOVE MY SCHOOL!! :D Ok, so all y'all who haven't blogged bout starting back, you should. Chair...that means you. Seriously. How was it?!! And um...oh yeah. Thanks for reading this horribly long and most likely boring post all the way through. :D

~ Captain Bonnie Spinner

School starts tomorrow

Well...I'm not sure how to feel. School starts tomorrow. I'm kind of excited for multiple reasons, one of them being we have like 4 new people in our class and one girl that's coming back from 5th grade. :D I can't wait to meet them! I'm also excited about just being in High School. Lunch on the deck, Student Council, Fish Camp, pranks that we'll create that will go down in history...I can't wait! But on the down side, we have a teacher that everyone says is reallllyyyyyyy hard. She scares me. So we'll see how that goes.

Hmmmm....what else.....Oh! We had volleyball tournaments Friday and Saturday. We lost all our matches, but won two games. Somehow the scoring is different and we still lost, but I'm so excited for this year!!! I can't wait to play more! We have a game Thursday and a tourny this weekend...weeee....

Ok. Now then. I think there's some tag that I'm supposed to be doing. Something about summer...but...I really don't have many priorities....I guess....but here I go! *plunging into memories*

My top Summer Memories/Favorite Summer Experiences:

10. Uuuuhhh....blogging....yeah....
9. Writing, I think.
8. Bonding with my friends and having lots of summer sleepovers and parties. :D
7. Working out at the gym with Marial and D {ouch...}
6. Going to the Bible Studies with Chair and holding my favorite baby in the whole wide world...
5. Helping the L's. :D
4. Chilling and not having to go anywhere or do anything for a while
3. Volleyball practice
2. Vacation!!
1. Hanging out with all my blogging and real life friends. Meeting all you guys in person, definitely. That will be a memory I will always hold on to, and possibly laugh at... ;)

I hope y'all are happy. Well...there will most likely be a post about the first day of school tomorrow...

Btw, Render, Flint had a really good idea: You should be multi-render orders food @ Micky-D's!! {That's McDonald's...for all you slow people like me out there...}

Well...Ciao and have good days!!
~ Captain Bonnie Spinner

Abduction

Aka, one of the most fun days of my life. Seriously. Let me paint you the beginning scenario:

Marial, D, and I are innocently sitting around my kitchen table after volleyball practice, laughing and being ourselves, when all of a sudden, two crazy weirdos with umbrellas jump out of my living room and state in disguised voices, "You're coming with us!" We blink, taking a moment to process the figures clad in black with sunglasses, hats, and bandanas over their faces. Then we burst out laughing. Dad snaps some pictures. Soon our arms are tied behind our backs and we're blindfolded. We're led swiftly through the door and into a car. Well...not swiftly. When you're blindfolded, you tend to stumble more...anyway... If this is what abduction is like, I'll gladly be kidnapped by them any day!

Throughout the whole car ride, we three chat like crazy, probably annoying our captors who still refuse to talk. We design the car we're riding in, wonder where we're going, and soon we've figured out that our captors are two seniors {my favorite two!} from our school. Marial had an uncanny nose that can sniff out anyone. We're still laughing and grinning behind the bandanas when 30 minutes later they pull the car to a stop and lead us out. I didn't have my shoes on, so they tried to get me to wear flats, but I couldn't walk in those so they gave up. They led us over concrete, not too carefully {poor D has a cut on her leg from when she didn't hear them say "step"}, and eventually the blindfold slipped and I saw a huge building and parking lot.

"You guys, I have no idea where we are!" I exclaimed. Then...they got in trouble with mall security and had to untie us. We were at the mall. We met up with all the girls from the ninth grade and senior class inside, then went to a different mall. We talked a bit about how long they had planned this and I eventually found some shoes, but they didn't tell us anything about the rest of the day. Arg. How frustrating. We got to the other mall and they told us we were going on a scavenger hunt. YEA! We got into teams with lists and bags and set out on an adventure.

Can you imagine groups of high school girls running rampid in the mall, unsupervised? Yeah. That was us. It was CRAZY!!!! {I usually don't like going to malls, but we weren't shopping}. My group finished the scavenger hunt and met up with the others, who had also finished everything on the list. Piling back into our cars, we went to one of their houses and hung out, playing a game or two and eating all their food. They had this dip stuff for carrots and chips called "veggie wedgie" and it was SOOO GOOODDDD! I think they had to add the sour cream to it, though. One senior had gummy worms and all the ones she didn't want were given to me. Yum!! Forgetting about swimming, we talked and played an M&M getting-to-know-you type of game, then glanced at the clock and got dressed for dinner.

They were going to take us to Cheesecake factory!!! Ahhhh!!! We were really happy and excited, but then we got there...and they told us an hour or hour-and-a-half wait. Psh! Scratch that! We went to TGI Friday's instead. I had a Chicken Caesar salad and some other stuff from my neighbors...you know....extra fries that would deteriorate and go to waste if someone didn't eat them. Then we called our parents and had them pick us up. It was SOOO MUCH FUN! I love our seniors! Our seniors are AWESOME! I can't even express their awesomeness. They're so much fun to just be around, you know? I hope we're crazy like that when we're seniors.

It's a tradition now. Every class that gets kidnapped has to kidnap someone else. *evil grin* So when I'm a senior, all those li'l fishies better watch their tails!! The sharks will devour them!...then take them on a surprise day of fun. :D Oh my goodness....yesterday was so awesome. It was completely insane. I love our class, I love the seniors, and I love veggie wedgie dip. G'night, everybody, and watch out for ninjas with umbrellas! {They couldn't find their toy guns. :D}

~ Captain Bonnie Spinner

Stuff

Woop!! It rained! I love tropical storms!!! It rained today!! Woohoo! I went outside and stood there, letting the rain speckle my skin and run down my face. Then I started running and spinning and the stuff you're supposed to do when it rains. So...I'm really happy today. I love rain. Ok, enough of that. Here's some totally awesome pics mom and I dug up of Chair, Will, and me.

*giggling* That's Will...I think

*grinning* That's Chair. She's so cute!!!! ... I think she was holding her breath or something...

And then there's this pic. Y'all will be able to know who the others are. *grinning* Lookit the J's!! I am on the left and Will is on the right. :D We're so cute!! Ahhh!

Ok, soooo that was a nice little walk down memory lane...Hope you enjoyed those. :D Ciao and have good days!

~ Captain Bonnie Spinner, the rain watcher

Rambling

Well I think I need a new post, but I don't have anything to say, really. In conclusion, I'm going to ramble and see how long it takes before my audience of one falls asleep. Maybe I'll even add some pictures, for visual interest.

I guess I'm kind of tired today. And sore. Volleyball camp started Moday {yes, I meant Moday}. It's not an official camp. It's just my school peeps who rent this grody, smelly old gym and go there for three hours each day for a week. The gym wasn't bad this year. {It's the same gym as always, but cleaner (as in the crusty couches, old chairs, furniture that no one else wanted, stage, and buckets of cockroaches were completely gone) and they have AC now! Woop Woop!} Hm...*going to find picture of volleyball* {Did anyone else notice the ( ) inside the { } ? }

And um...that's really fun. Also, I spent Moday and Tueday with Marial and spent the night...so if you emailed me or something and I didn't respond, that's why. Oh! Chair!! SHE HAS A SNAKE NAMED TODD! I LOVE TODD!!! I should make that a t-shirt...in fact...

There. Isn't that cool? Ok. Mo {moving on}. *making popping sound* Um...so....when I get really bored, I either say nothing and get really lazy...or if no one talks to me, I get like...serious...and think about stuff {I don't think normally...} ORRR sometimes, if I've had some sugar or something, I blurt out random phrases. I'm not really sure what kind of mood I'm in now...I'm tired and sore...I want another volleyball massage. Those are fun and feel really good. We do that at the end of practice.

I wonder what it would sound like if a sleeptalker was sore. ... "Ouch! *snore* Ouch! *snore* OH, MY LEGS! *yawn*" Ok...well...that's what you get for wanting a new post when I have nothing to say. Complete randomings. I think I've perfected the art of randoming. Maybe it's a mental condition. I've trained my brain to jump from subject to subject. Which is sometimes good, when you want to think of something un-complicated, or if you're lazy and don't want to think at all. On the trip, I was doing these little journally thingies, and one time I rambled for like ten pages.

Well....I think it's nap time...or chill time....or relax time...or sit-on-the-couch-and-wait-till-you-fall-asleep-or-something-interesting-happens time. Actually, I think that whenever you're waiting for something unexpected to happen....it doesn't...cuz you're expecting it...it's the days when you're not aware of anything that something happens, but only sometimes, because sometimes in the back of your mind, you're still expecting the unexpected, which makes it a least-likely-for-something-to-happen day. *yawning* Well, if you can figure that out, you must be a genius. I myself can't remember what I did five minutes ago. Give yourself a pat on the back. Ciao and have good days, everybody!

{pillows}

~ Bonnie Spinner

PS. OH!!!! Will and Chair, I found these really cool pics of when we were cute {a looong time ago}. Can I post them? I'll email them to you first, if you want.

Bible Verse tag {Short Version}

Mommy tagged everyone who read her blog to blog about favorite Bible verses and blessings. ... That made me think way too hard, but here it is. I think all the verses in the Bible are good ones. ... But someone might consider that cheating...so here's a few recent favorites...

Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

This verse is my favorite now, because it's something I've come to realize this past year and plan to use this coming year {talking in school years}. More recent favorites are:

Psalm 139: 14
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

1 Peter 1:6-7
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed

So...those are my recent favorite verses. They've encouraged me a lot. Now...on to blessings... I can't even count that high! Last night, I was thinking about this, and I started writing, and I wrote for like an hour and eighteen minutes. And I barely even started on blessings. I mean, it's hard to express like HOW MUCH I've been blessed. I realized that, and it made me love God even more. Thanks, mom...that was a good post...it made me think really hard, and I needed that.

Well...I guess if I had to name a few, I would say friends, family, church, and school. My family is always supportive of everything I do, and I know I can always ask them for advice or if I just need someone to listen. And my friends...are...awesome.... like.... God has blessed me with really, really, good friends! Again, I'm not able to express the awesomeness of what He has given me. My church is where I've been going most of my life. I've never been to any other church but Covenant {minus churches on vacations and stuff like that}, and I'm sooo glad I'm still there. My school is also awesome. The environment there, of Christian teachers and students...even the curriculum...it's really good. Huuuge blessing. I love my class. We're like one big family, even if we do fight sometimes.

So...I think that's it. Once again, thank you mom ~ I needed to think...haven't been doing that in a while. And, since this is a tag, I guess I tag everyone who reads this. I know Render and Will have already done it...y'all can post it on your blog or re-do comments here. Or not. You choice. So everyone {anyone} else who reads this...go blog! ... wow ... I didn't ramble nearly as much as I thought I would.

More pictwas!

...Yes, I know I spelled "pictures" like a French person. Don't hurt me. Anyway, here are some more pics from our trip:

That's the cabin view...did I show you that already? Who cares. See it again.

This is a building shaped like a corn cob in Chicago...we took a architechtural tour thingie.

Here are a bunch of fireworks! {And no Snailiens; camera mysteriously stopped working when we saw the space ship...}

That one is my favorite... Shiny!!

These are the boats at the Yacht club where we saw fireworks with my Aunt and her boss {and fam}.

This is a view of a um...building....through the ships...I think that building is significant somehow...but I can't remember why...maybe it's the state capital....*blink; shrug* Short term memory loss...I've no idea. Sorry. MO {moving on}.

And that mysteriously wonderful bright glowing light is called a candle. :) I love that picture! FIIIREEEE! Ok, enough of that...I hope you liked the pics. :D Leave comments, but don't go crazy on me. *stern look* Oh, who am I kidding? Getting 100 comments was crazy! I've never gotten that much before! Kudos to all who commented {which automatically excludes the Kidds (sorry guys) but we love them anyway ;)}.

~ Captain Bonnie Spinner

We're baaaackkkkk

We're baaaaccckkkk! *cue Phsycho music*

Miss us?

Well, let me see, in summary, we went to Minnesota, Chicago and Evanston Illinois, and Jackson Mississippi. Highlights of the trip include the ride at Mall of America, meeting up with some old friends twice {in MI and MA}, and seeing the Blue Man Group. That was...really...coll...weird...interesting....it's really hard to describe but I liked it a lot.

Hm....any other news...? Oh! It's almost halfway through JULY!!! AHHHH! *runs around, screaming and hyperventilating* I can't believe it! Where did summer go?! I think it's hiding. Ooh! It must be in my top bunk! It shan't be lost for long! *sends one of personalities to go and find the lost summer*

Hm...other news...? I don't think so... The Moonarrows are back....but y'all knew that. And um... hm ... OH! OH! OH! I got Dragonlight! *proud look* and I'm on Chapter....um....thirty something....


Ok, ciao and have good days!

~ Captain Bonnie Spinner

The Snailiens are coming, the Snailiens are coming!

Ohmygoodness, you guys!! Stay in your houses, lock your windows, and watch your pets for suspicious activites; the snailiens are coming!! Ohmygoodness...ok, so this is what happened: In Chicago, we were watching fireworks go off for like a pre-fourth celebration or something. My friend, *trying to remember code name* Selena Clous and I looked up, and through the fireworks we saw the blinking light of a space craft. We were like, "Hey, that's shaped kind of funny for an airplane..." so we took out our cameras to see if we could zoom, AND THEY STOPPED WORKING! They got low on battery! But then, once the ship shrank from sight, THEY WERE FULL BATTERY!!!! AHHHH! Creepy, huh? The snailiens don't want any proof of their existance....that's why I'm writing this down...if I die tomorrow and no one ever reads this...it's because I knew too much.

So, once the fire works were over, we started brainstorming {and having a great time while we were at it, too} and we came up with a whole species of aliens called "snailiens" that need our planet for a stone to play hopscotch. They look kind of like snake-snail-aliens {I'll post a pic once I get home, but for now I'll try my hand at paint...} and their shells can open up and engulfe their victims, which consist of pets that they steal the bodies of afterward. But it doesn't stop there! After they're stolen a body, they need human blood to retain its form!! *slightly disturbed look* The only hope we have of stopping their brussel-sprout cannon and anti-battery space ship attack is HOSPITAL GOWNS {no one likes those, anyway}. Join with me in the rally of these hated pieces of clothes, to destroy the snailiens from taking over on our freedom day!!!!

Hopefully I won't wake up tomorrow with anmesia and no proof that this actually happened...

~ Captain Bonnie Spinner

PS....don't go around asking for hospital gowns....please....

A rand moment with Bonnie Spinner's multiple personalities...?

*feeling inspired from Will's email*

Happy Bonnie {side A}: Ha! Ha! Ha! Look at the carpet! Heeheehehe, it's red!!

Moody Bonnie {evil B}: Hush up; I'm blogging.

Tired Bonnie {z}: *glancing at room with half-closed lids* Do you think...all chihuahuas have satellites?

A: Weee! Then they could watch the radio free of charge! That would be so cool! That way they would have more money to waste on shoes and other trivial items!

EB: Keep it down! Oy, who gave A the chocolate? I will personally strangle the person who gave A chocolate!

Z: I think it was the monkey, in the banana, with the library...

*A comes up to Z and pokes her with a wide smile on her face, giggling uncontrollabley. Seeing as she stays asleep, she goes to annoy EB*

EB: Stop that! I told y'all to keep it down! Don't MAKE me come OVER there!

*A giggles more and pokes her with increased vigor*

*Screen goes black; sounds of a fight going on*

EB: Sorry about that...problem solved. *A scwirms in her duct taped bonds, scooting in the chair she is now stapped to, a gag in her mouth*

*A fourth Bonnie emerges from the closet of dreams, hands bound with a red bandana, crawling past EB and blogging into the computer upstairs:* Day 3 in the recesses of Bonnie's mind. If I don't get some decent food for thought soon, I'm going to starve. I'm quite ravenous but on the other hand, Z IS asleep and unaware of my recent escape....*hungry Bonnie looks around for Z, sleeping in a couch* Aha! The morsel is unaware of my plot...I wonder if she's sweet. *inconspicuously sneaking around the couch, not being seen by moody Bonnie, venting her rage about siblings and multiple personalities on her blog* I am now stooping down to the level of insects and some island natives. Cannibalism. *Hungry bites Z and immediately spits* Ew! She's bitter!

*EB turns around, angrily* I thought I locked you in a closet, Inner Monologue! *hungry ducks and scrambles for the door, but EM blocks it with a dark expression* You will wish you had stayed there...*EB drags IM down to the section of the brain that you get songs stuck in*

"NOOO!" screamed IM, realizing what's going to happen and scrambling to be released, however Moody's grip is like iron. "Noooo!" she screamed again, hoping to be heard by Z, who can sleep through a thunderstorm AND a fire alarm. EB gags her and locks her in the room then stalks back to the computer. IM crumples into the corner, with the chorus of "It's a Small World" echoing in her head, blaring in her ears.

*Bonnie wakes up from her dream, blinking and trying to think for once. All her multiple personalities get run over by her train of thought, not to be seen until night arises once more...she groggily gets up and checks her blog, staring in unbelief at the screen* What the heck?!

Hm...

*sigh*

So maybe I owe y'all a bit more than some random pics...

Well, last week we went to Minnesota and stayed at this lodge place with a lake and everything. I finished a book {NOT my summer reading one} that was recommended to me by my friend. It's not quite the genre I am used to but it's still pretty good. And...hm...what else did we do...? Oh! Food!

ok, so they provide breakfast and dinner if you get the package or whatever, right? So it's included. So every day you can pick what to eat. You get bread to start off with, then you choose an appetizer, an entree, and a desset, and they bring one of those palet-cleansing-you-don't-fool-me-it's-an-icee-no-matter-how-French-you-make-it-sound thingies that are like shave ice. But the food is like....gourmet! You can get filet minon, shrimp scamy, rib eye, stuffed chicken, porkchops, duck *wince*, salad, hummis, satays, walleyed cake {whatever that is}, and don't even get me started on dessert! I mean, their chocolate cake is like....mmmm....ah.....ooh....

And breakfast is good too. Arg...I should probably be trying to burn that all off now. *sigh* Where's a treadmill? Then we visited some family friends. *grins* That was REALLY fun. Some of the men there had little magic tricks, and it was funny because the people they tried to get to do the trick with them knew how the trick worked, so they would mess them up. Hm...Render, I think I might know how you do one of your card tricks! {key word being "think"}.

Now we're in Chicago, visiting my aunt. The one with all the books. Weeeeee...should be fun. And um....hm...Oh! Advise: When in a double-doored elevator {door on both sides}, do NOT lean against the back of the elevator!! BAD IDEA!

~ Captain Bonnie

Some stuffs

Here's some stuffs for y'all.

The view of the water of the lake we were staying at in Minnesota...

Ducks or something...

...Leaves...

Ok, yeah, I went for a walk and went crazy with the camera. I have like 3 shots of looking up at the trees from the ground, but oh well. It was good weather, I was listening to my ipod, and I was bored. So yeah. That's it...so far...

~ Captain Bonnie Spinner

Leaving

Y'all I'm going on a two week trip to Minnesota, Chicago, and Mississippi. I'm leaving Monday. Sooooooo...

I'll miss you all so much but I'll try to use the internet when I get the chance at hotels and all that jazz. I'm really looking forward to it. Y'all have fun while I'm gone, ok? Hey! I know! Until I get back, y'all can play tag!! Alrighty. Here's the game: 10 random {or little known} things about you tag!

Rules

1. Blog about 10 random BUT TRUE facts about you.

2. Have fun!

See how easy it is? I'll do a mine real quick so y'all get the gist of it.

1. I'm addicted to gum.

2. When I was little I used to wonder if people tasted like chicken.

3. I CAN eat 5 saltine crackers in under a minute {previously thought impossible}.

4. I STILL haven't finished that book on my dresser that I started 2 years ago...

5. I scrapbook. {Actually, I think I told someone that...}

6. I promised myself a long time ago that I would never call a home phone {exceptions being if said home phone is on my fav five}.

7. I hate the feeling of chalk in between my nails. Bleh. Yuck.

8. I was born with 2 extra vampire teeth. They were really pointy.

8. When I was little my imaginary friend was Aladin from ... Aladin.

10. Um...um....um...did anyone notice I used the number 8 twice?

Ok, so now that y'all see what it's like, I tag everyone on my blog list!
*Tagging Marissa, Will, Flint, Charity, Levi, and Render* So...go blog! I'd like to read something when I get back. Have fun and I'm going to miss y'all!!

~ Captain Bonnie Spinner

My music

Yes, I know, I have lots of different songs on there. Yes, I like Broadway musicals. Yes, I think that Enchanted song is extremely catchy. Yes, KJ52 is addicted to Mountain Dew. No, that's not the best version of Cassie, but I think it's the best they had. And no, playlist.com doesn't have every song {explaining why "No Ordinary Love" is not on there}. Anyway, enjoy. Feel free to leave comments. ~ Bonnie Spinner

Marial and I dyed our hair. I got red and she got blue. You like?

Thursday

Today's Thursday. Which means I went to help out at a friend's house. Which means I have some stories to tell. We started out like last time. Busy morning. We packed everyone into the 15-passenger van and went to the gym, with Mouse and Shades calling my name on the way then hiding behind the nearest object. J-man and Mouse had a good time at gym, but I think both of them ended up loosing their stickers. A moment of silence please, for those lost stickers. Alright. Silence over. Then we went shopping again {but this was a "shorter trip" because we only had to go to one store}.

{Btw, I'm changing "M&M" to "Gabby" (she talks a lot).} Gabby talked to me on the way to the cereal, and she told me about a picture she had painted of a cabin. She explained that it was hard to make the brown color, and that it was her secret recipe. She leaned in and whispered, "I can't tell you how to make it because..." she paused and looked thoughtful, before continuing, "I don't remember." That made me smile.

We went home and ate lunch. Then Cool Shades needed her diaper changed. *grimace* Yeah...that was my first time changing a diaper. Sad, isn't it? Anyway...we got ready and I explained to the small group of onlookers, "This is my first time changing a diaper, y'all, so please don't laugh..." And then Cool Shades herself tilted her head back and laughed almost mechanically. That was funny.

Hm...any other highlights? *thinking* I helped some with school games and things. Cowboy, Manny, and I played a game where we had to throw a bomb across the sea, making sure not to let it land in the water, because then it would surely explode. But don't worry. With Cowboy and Manny there to dive into the water and retrieve the bomb, we didn't need to worry about being blown up...except for when I threw it...then we died. Oh, and apparently, for those people out there like me who hadn't played the game before, throwing the bomb at the wall gives you "infinity" points, and throwing it on the mantle gives you "beyond".

That's about it. *sigh* Well...Chair is going to Vegas. Have fun, Chair!! Hope you do well! Show them Vegas-ies {...?} that Texans got skill. And Will is still in *bleep*. Flint doesn't read my blog {that I know of}, and Render...is he back yet? So, Marissa, here's my day! :) Welcome back, btw. We missed you.

~ Captain Bonnie Spinner

PS. Tomorrow Marial and I are dying our hair. Should be fun...post pics if I remember...

Crazy Day

Today was fun. A bit strange. A bit crazy. A bit funny. A bit weird. But it was fun. This Thursday was the first of many that I will helping a family with 8 kids. I was really looking forward to it. Today was so much fun. First we went to gymnastics, because "J-man" and "Micky Mouse" take gym. All the rest of the gang came too {except "Cowboy", who was helping his dad at the house}. The "gang" consists of {in youngest to oldest, the oldest being 10 I think (nicknames to protect privacy)}:

1. "Miss Cool Shades" ~ 2 years old, cute, can't tell the difference between her feet {literally}, likes sunglasses, shoes, and pizza. Her catchphrase is: "Ew...gross...nasty!"

2. "Micky Mouse" ~ 3 years old, energetic {very!!}, sweet, likes my phone, my hat, my house, my mom....and trying to hide things when she thinks I'm not looking.

3. "J-man" ~ turning 4 years old, dangerous!!!! Energetic! Has the most cute, monkey-ish {slightly evil} smile in the world!! Apparently he likes butterscotch lollipops *makes CHOMP noise* and pieces of fuzz that used to be a deerskin blanket....? Oh, and his favorite activities may include swinging from chandeliers and climbing out windows {that happened a long time ago}.

4. "Manny" ~ 4 years old. He's the strong, silent type. I think he will be a good football player. He likes riding in between two moving grocery carts, making funny faces, shooting people with guns {his fingers}, and bouncing.

5. "Cowboy" ~ 5 years old. Likes guns and fixing things. I didn't get to spend as much time with him as with the others because he was helping his dad with something. I will say he's probably the hardest to understand out of all of them. Sometimes you simply have to resort to smiling and nodding while saying occasionally, "Yeah. That's cool." I hate doing that...not understanding them...kind of awkward.

6. "Gabby" ~ 7 years old. Likes dolls, books, dresses, and talking. She talked alot. But not unpleasantly a lot. She's very sweet. A good helper. Big, blue eyes. She told me her favorite Lord of the Rings movie was the third one. And she hated the second. *I-don't-agree-with-that look* But oh well. :)

7. "X-box" ~ 9 years old. Likes X-box, games, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, computer games, swords, now-or-later candies. He's nice to talk to and very intelligent.

8. "Sewing Machine" ~ 10 years old. Very responsible and a good helper. Likes to sew, cook, read, and play computer. She's very wise for her age and she's kind of quiet...well, not to my sister anyway {they're really good friends}, but she has very good self control.

Phew...I think that's everyone. Well, we went to gym first and I watched Tom and Jerry with the kids who weren't in class. I haven't seen that show in a while. Not much has changed. Poor Tom is still persecuted for merely trying to eat, Jerry is still ganging up on Tom with the help of his scheming dog friend, and that little "touche, pussycat!" mouse is still trying to become a mouseketeer.

After that we went shopping. This was a very new experience. We went to two stores. I have never had to shop with two carts. Ever. Cool Shades was riding in the first cart. Mouse was in the other cart. Manny had a foot on each of them, trying to keep his balance. J-man kept trying to switch from the back of one cart to the other. M&M talked to me, telling me stories and pointing out the abnormal purple tennis shoes of the man nearby. We got pizza {much to the relief of Cool Shades} and ate that in the car.

We went home and tried to get some of the little ones to take naps. The older ones played on computer or did x-box. I watched for a bit as X-box played a baseball game where he purposefully threw the ball at the batter's face. That was funny. Then Sewing Machine and I called out different body parts for him to hit. "Knee!" "Stomach!" Then his pitcher got kicked out of the game *scowl* but it was still fun.

I cleaned the cabinets {they were really grimey, grody, and dirty} because they were having some people stay at their house later on. Somewhere around this time, poor Mouse rounded a kitchen corner, stolen cheeto in hand, and stepped in the water bowl, knocking it over and falling on her face. Then when my mom came to pick me up, I watched with amusement as poor little Cool Shades tried to put on Mouse's shoes. She had them on the wrong feet. So then she took them off, switched them on the ground, and then put them on again ~ still on the wrong feet! "Cool Shades," I said as she picked up her left shoe and moved it over her right foot, "Wrong foot." She looked at me, blinked, put the shoe down, picked up the right shoe, and moved it over her LEFT foot! I laughed. She eventually got some help and happily trudged around the house.

And...then we left. We met up with Chair and Bear at night at a Bible Study and we watched little Bear. That was fun. We had some laughs. *Thinking* Well...Chair's never on, Will is *someone comes and muffles the next sentence; then leaves*, Marissa is having tons of fun at camp {hopefully} and who knows how long it will be before the Moonarrows get back to blogging...*narrowed eyes* So I don't really know who I'm blogging to.

... Ciao and have a good day! *To the wall* Thanks for listening.

~ Captain Bonnie Spinner

PS. So if I don't reply to anything you do on Thursdays...this is why. Oh, and Fridays I am working out with Marial. For a while. Yeah.

School's OUT!

School's out!! I feel like running and jumpng and singing and laughing and and and and weee! *Singing High School Musical* Juuuuuust kidding! High school musical is one of those movies that after you've seen it once {and believe me, I've seen it a BILLION times}, you get tired of it. So we got out of school last wednesday. "Marial" and I had a good time. We went ice skating. I fell alot. That was sooo fun! I like going fast and then attempting to do something cool...so you fall....and then you laugh about it. That's fun. Still recovering from blisters and bruises.

We also watched 4 episodes of Dr. Who....and she fell asleep first....and I was hallucinating and imigining things at night...creepy....but I like Dr. Who. The new ones. Never seen the old ones. I'll have to see them some time. Hm...what else did we do? We played a bit of volleyball. That was fun.

Btw, we graduated from middle school! *jumping into the air* Yeaaaa! The graduation was kind of cool, in a way, but it had a sad aftertaste, like a lemon drop gone bad. After the ceremony was over, we all said good bye. Some people are going to different high schools, which made everyone kind of sad. We're all really close, like one big family. But more than that. I was so happy school was over, but yet, in a way, knowing I wouldn't see most of my friends for like 3 months and knowing I might not see the ones that are going to other schools....it made me feel empty...yet happy...I don't know how to describe it. Just....satisfied? I'm glad this year is over. I've learned a lot and I {hopefully} have matured a bit. I wish I had hugged more people. :(

After graduation, Marial, D, Des, their parents, my dad, and our coaches all met up and had lunch at Olive Garden. That was fun. We had some laughs and made plans to get together some over the summer. I think I'm officially a fish {freshman} now. There you have it. Bottom of the food chain. I think that's all I have to say for now.

Have fun wherever y'all are!

~ Bonnie Spinner, fish

Today

Ok, so guess what. My friend is coming over for like 3 days of the week!!!! Yeaaaaa!!!!

Today started out with me eating a waffle, kolache, and a strawberry smoothie from the senior coffee house thing. Yum!

Then we went bowling. That was awesome. I stink so bad. I bowled with "Seigi", "D", and...um...the person who is coming over...who doesn't have a nickname yet...Well, she has ones, but she won't let me USE any. Fine. Ok. In bowling they messed up her name and it was "Marial". So...yeah.

D won both two games. We got distracted when the lights got all purple and we wrote on ourselves with highlighter. Mr. H, our science teachers, was drawing pictures on us that glowed in the dark. Anyway...I stink so badly. I made like a 53. Yeah. Terrible. Gutters...oy... Then we went to Fudruckers. I got my food first and was done pretty quickly. Then I ate everything that other people didn't want. Onion rings and a burger. Mmmm! Yum! Then we went to Mrs. C's church's youth group's room in the church. It was pretty cool. We played ping-pong and pool. I am really bad at ping pong and didn't play pool. We were chilling and stuff. It was pretty fun.

Ooh! And this morning! We played a prank on Mrs. C! Mr. H, our IPC teacher in the other room, called her into his room to show her something, our que to turn on our cells. We were so loud; I'm surprised she didn't hear us. But anyway...she came back and then we waited. About five minutes later one phone went off. Mr. H and the ninth graders were calling it. It was Seigi's, and she got really "sad" and was about to cry. Then in about three minutes, the whole room went off in ringtones! Mrs. C was like, "...Did y'all plan this?" And we started laughing. I was kind of disappointed my phone didn't go off; I had a new ringtone and everything, but...oh well.

Ok...so...hopefully I'll have some interesting post up soon about doing something fun with Marial. Ciao. ~ Bonnie

SUPERCHICK!!

Ohmygoodness!!!! SUPERCHICK WAS CRAZY AWESOME!!!!

I went with my friend "D" and this is how our day went:

First, we took an hour drive to get in the general area. We had Red Robin once we got down there. Mmm....burgers. We re-applied our hair glue {I had red, she had gold, but they were both equally messed-up looking}.

Then we got down to the place, and it was JUST starting with Starlit Platoon {or Plantoon, I'm not sure which}, which was really good. I want to get their CD. We were on the balcony {first row} which really wasn't THAT bad of a seat. It was a small place. Then Britt Nicole came out and everyone got really happy {she did "Set the World on Fire"}. Next was KJ52, who was hilarious!! Ohmygoodness, he's so funny! I want to get his CD{s} too. I know a friend who has them...maybe she'll let me borrow them...anyway, he was so funny and he interacted with the crowd alot. We went crazy. Then we bought t-shirts while Disciple was playing, and we got back and listened to like 3 of their songs. They were ok. Then it was time for Superchick!!!! Ahhhh!!!!

Superchick was awesome!!!! I was kind of sad that they didn't play more. But they rocked. It was totally awesome!! We were like singing and laughing and stuff. It was cool.

Finally we got home at like...11:something and went crazy. We had so much fun...ohmygoodness.... We were laughing until like 3, when we went to sleep. The End.

~ Bonnie :)

Still bored...still....bored...

Arg. I am so bored. ... Not that I don't have stuff to do... I can't do anything...I'm just too lazy to do it. So...I was thinking about making a video...but I don't know what to put in it...I thought about giving you a virtual tour of my room...but then I doubted you would get lost in it...

Um...well...I guess I'm really excited about this month. Going to see some movies, going to a concert, school volleyball has started {briefly, to get ready for next year}, and...yeah...

It rained today. Which was good. I love it when it rains. It kind of inspired me but then I got mad because it stopped and I was left with one line of a potential poem. Arg. So...I've been at a loss for inspiration recently. It's horrible. Blah. Blah. Blah. See? I feel the words coming out from my mouth and through my fingers being turned into instant boring ones...

Blah blah blah blah blah something about blah blah blah and then the part where he said, "Blah blah blah" made her go "Blah!" and they lived blahbitty blah blah blah blah.

See how bored I am? I typed all that w/o using the copy and paste tool. Someone, do something interesting! I'll give you a buck!

"I'll give you $10 if you stop breathing" ~ StrongBad

I doubt there's anyone reading this. You shouldn't be. It's bad junk. No read. Bad. *slaps whoever's reading* See? Bad. Not good post. Go somewhere else. No soup for you.
~ The bored one
PS...Do something interesting...but I'm not going to pay you.

Field Trip!!!!

Hey guys! Wassup? I just got back from my 8th grade field trip to Enchanted Rock and Cave Without A Name. It was crazy. I loved it!! I shall now describe to you all that we did, exerting the inside jokes {lest they become un-inside jokes}.

I groggily woke up at ... *trying to remember, looking at clock, thinking very hard, taking out calculator and punching in numbers* ... early. I got to the school at ... 5? 5:20? Everyone was there and they kept telling me I look like this dude because I was wearing my hat. We got into cars. I was riding with my friends "Flower Child", "Alex", and...um..."SD". We had so much fun! We talked for a while then they went to sleep and I got bored. Then we stopped, the people got out of the cars, Mrs. C bought a ton of colaches...kolaches...kolachies?...and the parents got Starbucks. We got back in our cars and drove to a park where we ate our ko--food. Then we loaded up and drove for like 4 hours. That was fun. Flower Child packed lots of food. We ate oreos, pop tarts, coffee candies, chocolate, and these little candies that were not good.

We got to the rock, ate lunch {hotdogs and chips}, and started the hike up Enchanted Rock. My friends and I stayed with Mr. H, our science teacher. He showed us all this neat stuff about the rocks and things. Everyone had their cameras. I was lazy and figured I didn't need mine, so I'm going to ask everyone for theirs via email. That was really fun. Then we found this cave. We went inside and climbed around. I love to climb. It's so fun!!! It was pretty cool {literally and figuratively}...it got even cooler when someone found a deep crevice. We crawled inside and there was like a 20 foot wide cavern and it kept leading down and there were more and more little drops and things to climb. We only had one flashlight and it was pitch black. Kind of creepy, right? And then we looked on the wall and written in blue letters were the words "Do not enter". I kid you not. No joke. True Story. A bit later we got Mr. H in there to "supervise" and he said it was probably a prank bacause the other lettering {arrows} had been in white paint. We crawled around in there and someone found a river. Then we had to go and leave our little "Indiana Jones meets the Cave" adventure. It was creepy cool though. We climbed around the side of it and drank lots of water.

We went to Taco Cabana. That was fun. We all laughed and talked. Then we started arm wrestling. That was fun too. We then went back to the motel. Alex went to a different room but the rest of us shared one. We watched this hiphop show. It was ... interesting ... in the morning we got up {which was very unpleasant}, ate the continental breakfast *makes face*, unpacked everything in the rooms, and started driving again. I had a bagel. It was of questionable quality and indistinguishable type. Anyway, I was supposed to check the room for anything we left behind and I didn't see anything except this lunchbox. Later, when I finally got home, Flower Child called me and got all mad because she left her brush behind...and I didn't see it...so now I owe her a brush, 4 packets of notebook papper, money, gum, and probably something completely unrelated to anything in this blog. We've helped each other out in so many situations.

*Coming back from "bff loans" flashback scene* It didn't seem like a long way to "The Cave Without A Name" but maybe just because we were having fun. That's the name of the cave. Literally. The guy who owned it {after some other people} had a naming contest and a little boy said something like, "Sir that cave is just too pretty to have a name" so they named it "Cave Without A Name". We took the tour and I should be able to post some pictures on here... The cave was really cool. It's always the same temperature. They had this one room where everything was like food! It was my favorite. They called it the Food Court. It was so fun just looking at the formations and finding shapes and stuff. The rocks were red and brown, some white or grey, and occasionally sparkling or glistening with moisture. It was DARK. They had lights and things like that but when they turned out the lights no one could see their hands in front of their faces. That was fun. I kept poking my friends and whispering, "Something is touching me!" It was hilarious and somewhat scary.

After the tour was done we went into the gift shop. I bought a hat and I bought SD a ring because it was cheap and she didn't bring money. A lot of people bought rings. We loaded up and drove for like an hour, eating food and taking pictures. We had a fun time in the car. We made funny videos featuring Alex's teddy bear. *Smiling at memory* We got to some small little restaurant and everyone had the all-you-can-eat buffet. That was good. There was this little shop on the outside too so we all looked at the trinkets and touristy souvenirs. It had an old kind of Western feel. I got money {compliments of Flower Child} and bought some peppermint sticks. I got watermellon, strawberry, cherry cola, and blueberry. I only ate strawberry and cola because I gave the others away. We laughed and talked and slept some. I only fell asleep on the way back from the rock, and I have issues with falling asleep in the daytime because of the time lapse and it makes me think it should be the next day. So I stayed awake.

We got to the school and we all said goodbye. Then at 11 last night most of us saw each other again in the 8th grade cleanup after the High School formal at some country club. That was fun! Then at 2 we went to Denny's and had a GREAT time. It was hilarious, talking to the waiters and making jokes. I was hyper as a result of a chocolate milk shake. That was fun. And then...I got home, had 32 emails {I know, ONLY 32, right? Jk, jk} and...now I'm blogging...

I'm hoping to go and see Expelled with Mickey and ... Dude, he STILL doesn't have a nickname!! Anyway, ciao for now. Pics coming soon...maybe...

~ Captain Bonnie Spinner

Boring...

Arg...I'm bored...hence the invigorating title. Well...I could tell you about my day. But then again why bore you to tears?


*Inner monologue; raspy voice*

Evil side: Yes! Kill them!
Non-evil side: No, no, we like precious friends.
E: No! They must die!
N: But they don't deserve to die.
E:"Be original" they says. "We is dull" we say. "Do it anyway!!" it says. *Gollum, gollum*

Wooowww...Did I leave the tv on? *Finding "off" button*

E: Nooooo!

Oook then. So something somewhere is telling me to do something. So I guess I'll tell you about my day because I have nothing better to do. :) Heehee. Here we go. *Evil smile*

Today we had SATs, {Standford Achievement Test} but not the college ones. The other ones. Today we did the science and math stuff. Tomorrow we'll do the reading and History. I like English so that should be fun. So...I finished each section kind of early. Those multiple choice questions are kind of easy...if you're a good guesser. I caught up on some much-needed, much-put-off, much-procrasinated math correctons...Finally...I've been meaning to stop procrastinating but I keep putting that off too. We only did SATs up till lunch. Then we had our normal classes of computer and history, which were fun because in computer we are editing pictures with GIMP and in history we were doing current events...but I forgot mine..........oh well.

Let's see here. What else? Oh! In lunch my friends stole my nutra grain bar when I was like getting a drink or something. A whole group of them did and they all claimed they didn't have it. I got play-mad and walked irritatably into the hall way.

Ok, stop right here. *Record-Scratch* First of all I would like to make sure y'all know the difference between like play-mad and like...I-hate-your-guts mad, right? I would never get that mad for some stolen food. I was just like fake-mad. Actually...if you took my food and never gave it back I might get real mad, but this was play mad. Now point number two is ... did anyone else notice that irritatably isn't a word? The correct adverbial form of irritated is irritatedly. Alrighty then. Resume.

I was smiling in the hallway, pacing back and forth, when one of my friends in the group comes in to get a drink and tells me which one has my food. I get ready to go back in, all mad and eveything, and then once I have thoroughly searched the supposed criminal and all her belongings, someone I never would have guessed pulls out my nutra grain bar from under her desk. *Sigh*

So that's it for today...Oh, and I bet a guy in my class a quarter that I could beat him in on a vocabulary test. Ok, now I'm really done. Hey...this is kind of fun. Why stop at today? I'm going to tell you all about my week! ... Haha. I don't hate y'all that much. But I will say that Thursday and Friday I will be gone on my 8th grade trip to Enchanted Rock and Cave Without A Name. ....Yes, that's the actually name of the cave. Could blog about Saturday and Sunday...but I'll let someone else do that.

Seems like I haven't talked to y'all in a while...Hm...maybe Will has a new post. Ok...well...I'll be here for a looong time... at least until 5:20...and then tomorrow I might not be here until like 9, but that's only a maybe. Ciao.

~ Captain Bonnie Spinner

Track

Hebrews 12:1-3

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

Proverbs 4:12

When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble.

Isaiah 40: 28-32

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

1 Corinthians 9: 24-27

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

...Isn't that cool? God wrote about track in the Bible! I had a track meet today and the whole time I was running I was praying for strength and also humility. So...this is my way of giving God the glory. He helped me to run today when thoughts of quitting and stopping popped into my head, and he deserves all that I have and more, which I can never give...but he loves me anyway. So now that we all have that warm, mushy feeling inside...that's all I had to say. God bless!

Recent Adventure

Ok...While exploring with Render, I came across a dragon egg. I picked it up and it hatched. We watched as the tiny dragon unfurled it wings with a tiny yawn {revealing sharp, pointed teeth}. Its dull color quickly changed to a brilliant red. Its wings brightened to a fiery light-red color. It looked up with large, brown eyes. I stroked it and wrapped it in a blanket.

"Her name is Miya," I said, "And she's a minor dragon." Minor dragons are only as long as a grown man's forearm. They're not big enough to ride but each of them has their own special ability. Only time will tell with this little dragon. Render teleported us to a different climate, a warmer one.

"Could you ask her where she came from," he asked.

"The only thing she remember is..." I struggled to put into words what Miya was communicating, "A warmth, like a breath of light. Then a voice both like thunder and like a song." Ancalagon landed and Render said he had to leave. He gave me a book that was filled with pictures. Touch a picture and you teleport to that place. Then Ancalagon leapt into the sky with Render and they disappeared.

I flipped to the back of the book.
"No...you need to stay hidden...” I said to Miya. I tried to fit her under the large coat I was wearing without the dragon showing. I was able to pull it off if I kept a hand on my moving stomach. I pointed to a picture of a port city. A whirl of wind and light and suddenly I was in Tortuga. I approached a familiar tavern. When I entered the tavern an eruption of noise greeted me from the music a group was playing and the shouts from the brawling people. Ducking to avoid a bottle thrown over my head and jumping over a fallen drunk man, I approached the concierge standing behind a large desk.
"A quiet room away from prying eyes and listening ears," I said. The concierge looked at me with a sneer.

"Quiet costs extra," he said. I stared at him, my face hardening and my mouth twisting into a straight line.

I pulled out a coin and said in a low voice, "We both know this tavern is anything but quiet and the service is as bad as the ale. Therefore it deserves far less than any money I could give you. However, I'm going to keep my mouth shut about your terrible service and dirty rooms and even throw in a little extra for some privacy. As far as you know, I'm not here and I don't exist. You've never seen me in your life. Savvy?"

He nodded and said, "You drive a hard bargain." He took the coin.

"One thing, miss," he said as I turned away. I looked at him. "What's your name?"

"Remember?" I asked, placing another coin on the desk, "I don't exist."

My room was on the second story. The floor was grimy and the walls were tainted different shades of brown. There was a bed in the center and a couch on the far side or the tiny room. A small window showed the moonlight from outside. Miya squirmed and flew out of my coat. It had been torture for the little dragon to stay still so long. I took off my hat and my shoes, sat on the bed, lied down on my stomach, and propped up my elbows, resting my head on my hands. I watched the tiny dragon flying around the ceiling.

"What do you do?" I asked. I listened to the dragon's thoughts. Every dragon has a mental link with their owner, or the person who quickens them. Most dragons developed relationships with their riders, but minor dragons are too small to ride, most of them being the size of a large cat. Miya flew to me and rubbed her scaly face against my cheek. I stroked her chin, wondering what her talent was. Miya took the whole room in, wondering what the funny little blinking bugs were outside the window. She had an active mind and I had trouble keeping up with her. I sighed and rolled over. Miya flew and landed on my stomach. She spread her wings and looked expectantly at me.

"Well I can't help if it you're hungry," I said. Miya cocked her head to one side and made a small noise. I had to laugh. "Alright. What do you eat?" She flew off my stomach and waited until I sat up. She perched on her shoulder. "How am I supposed to know? I haven't ever raised a dragon before. Sure I've read books, but--" I listened to Miya. "Fireflies. They're not flying stars. They're called fireflies." I got up and unlatched the window. A few bugs flew in. Miya screeched gratefully and tried to catch them. I watched as she flew clumsily through the air. She managed to catch them and she ate them greedily.

I stretched and covered myself with the covers. Miya curled up by my head, a soft sound almost like a snore rising within her. I smiled and fell asleep.

Part 3

Part 3

*In deep voice* Previously, in the story:
Everything was dark. Amber pulled out a match and lit her candle. She suppressed a gasp. She was there; the South Wing.
*Theme music plays, intro credits…ok. Here’s the next episode:*

Amber found two large eyes were staring down at her. Her heart nearly stopped as she raised her candle. She let out her pent up breath. It was only a mounted boar’s head. She held the candle higher and peered into the briefly illuminated room she was in. It was another hallway with many different doors leading to many different rooms. There was no light at all except her candle, though she could see there were torches set in the walls. She wondered what it had been like to wander down these horrifying halls when they were all lit, 200 years ago. Would they be less frightening and more wonderful? She couldn’t see very much at all, for the candle only lit what was directly in front of her.

Amber opened the first door she came too and closed it behind her. It led to another hall. She frowned. This was odd. She started walking down the hall very slowly, her heart beating rapidly. Out of the corners of her eyes she saw something move. She cast the light on the floor behind her. Nothing was there. She was so sure something had moved. Her heart began racing now and her breath came faster. She continued to go down the dark hall. Cobwebs hung from the unused torches and a thick layer of dust covered the furniture. She brushed off a cobweb. There! She saw something move again, this time to her right. The only thing there was an old chair. Her candle began to flicker now. It had never been very big, only casting its light on what was directly in front of her. She silently begged it not to go out, not daring to speak for fear of waking some terrible beast from the past. Its flame grew smaller. She began to move faster, hoping to get to the end of the hall and find some kind of light switch.

As Amber ran she happened to move her candle to shine on the walls. She suppressed a scream and dropped her candle. There was a person in the room with her! The candle was out and she was submerged in darkness. She ran even faster, trying not to stumble, and as she ran shapes rose up from all around her. They moved with her, running beside her, in front of her, behind her. She couldn’t see their faces, only shapes, and they all moved at the exact same time. She felt them closing in around her ~ they were everywhere. She tripped over the rug and fell. She didn’t get up; she just closed her eyes and cried because she was so afraid. She was afraid that the second she opened her eyes they would get her, take her, do something to her, and she didn’t want to know what. If she just sat there, hiding her face in her arms, she felt nothing bad could happen. Nothing could happen if she just kept her eyes closed. Silence. Darkness. That was all she knew or felt. A long time passed. She didn’t know how long she sat there, waiting for the cold fingers to seize her, in that terrifying darkness. After a while she gained control of herself and stopped crying. Why was nothing happening? She opened her eyes. It was so dark it was like she still had her eyes closed. She looked around her. Where were the figures?

Amber lit one of the matches from her pocket. Trying to breathe normally, she cautiously stood up. Movement! They too began rising all around her! She dropped back down. She frowned. They had dropped with her. They seemed to be coming from the walls… She rose again, going very slowly. She was surrounded, but this time she moved toward one of the walls of the hall. She looked at it closely and then felt a wave of emotions flow over her. It was a mirror! The walls were all mirrors! She held her match up high to see what she had forgotten the first time. She had been looking at the floor the whole time! If only she had noticed the walls and how her image had been multiplied in them! She felt silly, angry, a bit disappointed, and a small part of her wanted to laugh, if only out of nervousness. So this was the main room in the South Wing. A hall of mirrors. She groped around for the candle she had dropped. She found it and lit it, grateful it was still long enough to be lit. After exploring a few more rooms, she tried to find her way back and out of the Wing. She knew there was still more to explore but she was unnerved and reluctant to and she wanted to go back to electrically lighted halls.

Amber managed to find her way back to the door she had entered. As she placed a hand on the handle she felt something behind her. She turned slowly, in case it was another mirror. Holding her candle to her side she noted the walls were normal. No mirrors here. Her brows came together. Her hand slid off the door knob and she peered into the gloomy black hall. She was about to turn and open the door when she saw something shadow-like in the corner of the ceiling. It flew from one side of the room to another then disappeared, as if it was smoke. Her heart began racing again but she determined to not be afraid. Embarrassment from her last exploration still clung to her memory. Then she saw the quick, rapid movement around a chair. It was like a vapor, for it shifted and then disappeared. She tried to regulate her breathing and not panic. She held up her shaking candle. Nothing was there. Nothing’s there. “Nothing’s there,” she repeated to herself, as if those words could erase that sight from her brain. She let out her breath in a long sigh, breathed, and turned around, completely calm. She screamed. A face was indeed staring back at her ~ a human face that was not her own. Then it was gone, like a puff of smoke! It was all so fast she hardly remembered it a second later, but she quickly opened the door to the library without looking back and blinked against the blinding light. Those eyes! She could not get rid of those eyes! In the middle of a black, smoky vapor there had been two great yellow eyes staring at her.

That day she got lost again in the rest of the house, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the eyes she had seen. Amber looked for her aunt but she was seemingly not in the house. She ventured outside into the spacious land surrounding the mansion. The grass was green and there were many trees and ponds in the yard. Her aunt owned a lot of land. There was an orchard on one side of the house with large apple trees, and a big pond that seemed to go on for as far as the eye could see on the other side. She looked around and approached the orchard. Her aunt was sitting in a big tree, swinging her legs from a high branch. She had carried a basket up with her that was hanging on a nearby branch. She held a pen in her hand and was tapping in thoughtfully on her chin as she stared at a notebook in her lap.

“Aunt Cindy?” Amber called to her.

She didn’t move. Amber walked closer and called again. Her aunt looked up from her paper.

“Amber?” she asked lightly. Amber started talking at once, but her words came out jumbled and mismatched. Her aunt patted a limb beside her. Amber climbed up. Aunt Cindy reached into her basket and pulled out a chocolate bar. She handed it to her neice and urged her to take deep breaths. “What is it? What’s happened?”

“The South Wing. Eyes. Darkness. My candle … it went out. I saw a face and then it disappeared!” she stammered. She took another bite of chocolate and watched her aunt’s face. Her aunt leaned back and closed her eyes. She said nothing for a while.

She murmured something to herself and it seemed to Amber that she said, “Perhaps a candle wasn’t the best idea for a first time down there.” Then louder, “What was this face like?” she asked, her eyes still closed.

“Only eyes. The rest was like smoke,” Amber replied. Her aunt’s eyes flashed open and she began packing up her things into the basket, which she swung under her arm.

“That’s no reason to fear. They cannot hurt you now. However, if a mouth develops, be sure to tell me,” she said as she dropped lightly out of the tree. Amber’s mouth opened wide and she jumped down beside her.

“You mean…this doesn’t surprise you at all?” she asked.

“Amber,” she said, walking toward the house with Amber in tow, “I’m a writer. As a fantasy writer, I strive to write compelling, adventurous stories that will baffle and engage the reader so they want to continue reading and having adventures of their own.” Her voice changed. Amber had noticed in the past few days that her aunt’s voice was very unique in how it seemed to be threatening, mysterious, and sometimes musical whenever she wanted it to be.

“People like stories with ogres and goblins, dragons and faeries, elves and monsters because they think it’s all make believe, that it’s only a story, made of words on a page. But what if all they fear and dream about is in existence, in flesh and blood?” Her voice changed again, still lower as she said mysteriously, “What if the very stories they read about…are happening all around them?”