Theory Thursday- All about the tiny things

As promised, I will post some writing tips every Thursday. So... I'm gonna post a few of my favorite/what I think is most important tips, So here goes, but first-

DISCLAIMER: I do not claim for these techniques to work on all writers or people, I am a young writer, and I am only trying to be helpful. If you have anything to add to my ideas, please go ahead. :-)

DO sweat the small stuff.
That's what my "lesson" is all about today. The little things in writing. For me, it's one of the most important, and the hardest things to get.

You see, I'm a very emotion-type person. I like to make lots of feeling in my writing, which you know if you read it. (hint, hint.) I'm always getting all my characters caught up in the moment and they don't always notice their surroundings. But I wouldn't say that's a bad thing. I would say if that's the kind of person they are, it's fine. But the trick is, I would say, what they do notice. Here's a workout I would recommend.

Walk around your house. Find one odd or non-important object and just focus on it. See what kind of memories it brings back. In a novel or story, when your hero remembers something from their childhood or high school days, it doesn't have to be connected or important to the story.

So that's the first side of it, memories and surroundings, but it goes even deeper then that. (And by deeper, I mean more shallow. :D)

Anything that someone owns is for a reason, right? So when someone is fiddling with something while talking to your hero, why? Even if your reader doesn't know, you should know right? I would say, you can do one of two things for this. One, you can get a writing prompt, (If you have a board on Pinterest, or you can just search the inter-web.) and write one character into it. Maybe not your MC, or your MC's best friend. Maybe it's the villain, or Your MC's brother in law. But just write, and see what this person would do in any given situation.

 Number two, would be to fill out a character sheet for that person. I found one online, hanks to a writing friend a while ago. (http://dehydromon.deviantart.com/art/Blank-Character-Sheet-doc-Over-370-Questions-298561173) So you can check that out, and hopefully you'll get to know your character better.

So that's that, and my other tip would be one that is close to my heart and it's about one of the most debated things of all time.

Planning VS. Pansting
For those of you who don't know, pantsing is a term for those who don't outline, and just jump right in. I am proud to be one of those people. Pansting means, 'flying by the seat of ones pants' or, to put it simply, NOT PLANNING. I've tried making outlines, and It never works. I mean, most of the time I know what happens and around when, but when it's an outline, I feel like I'm being forced. And the story, also, moves too fast. Because it's this and then that and then this again. And I feel like I'm tied up and can't do anything but what the outline says.

Not everyone is like this, I know, but I am. So here's what I do to fix it.

I stole this idea form my sister, Moriah. She used it before me, I just changed it a little to work better for me. so thank her if it saves your life. ;-)

I write down scene ideas, and the climax and all that, but I don't do it in the fashion of an outline. Click here to see the outline template.


Those are my tips for this week. They aren't perfect, and won't work for everything and everyone. I'm just trying to help a writer out. :-) So see you tomorrow, where I'll be posting today's and Friday's story/poem.

Thanks!

Elsie

April project- Day 3- Falling Ash

I got this picture today-

Freaky, I know, but I love the image. I ended up with a poem instead of a short story today.

Falling

Down

Turning

To the ground

I can’t

Beleive

You could

Just deceive

Turning

To ash

Crying

Leaving fast

Just stitch

Me up

My blood

Is filling up

My skin

Cracking

My mouth

Still blacking

Giving

Up now

Sobbing

Don’t know how

Going

Through me

Burning

I can’t see

Can’t live

Anymore

Just let

Death be cure

I’m gone

Evermore

Can’t move

I’m done for

If I

Could die

My heart

Would just fly.

If an Immortal died- Chapter 3- Part 3

They lead me down  long hall, and my heart beats faster with every step. I wonder who this mysterious Jarek is, and why everyone, including the ever calm and loving Alaric. I keep trying to focus my eyes on the winding halls of ivory and gold, with pillars of pure light and color.I sigh at the wonder of all this, and try to figure out how I’m still calm. I wonder if Alena whispered a word to me to help. Somehow, that makes me feel angry. I clench my fists and wait for us to arrive, still soaking everything in as much as I can. I’m lead through brass doors with vine entangled designs of men and women flying, writing, singing, and even fighting. Alaric opens the doors with a gentle current of air.I shiver and gasp as they lead me out into the huge sunroom, with glass ceilings everywhere, letting patterns of rainbow light come through a burrow of trees, shining down onto the silver floor, pillars of stone keeping up the high ceiling. I stumble on the smooth ground, falling and hitting the metal on the ground hard. I sigh and stand up again, not waiting for someone to help me up. I glance around the beautiful room one more time, then follow Alaric and the others out, sighing to myself. Again. Alaric leads the way. From what I can tell, if he Jarek is the boss, Alaric is second in command. Everyone follows him and pretty much does everything he says. I feel a hand on my shoulder and suddenly see the Heather’s grae next to an oak tree, and me crying, as if from afar, and I gasp.I see Alaric opening the car door and me flying upwards and through some sort of film over the sky, and then landing next to a palace, large and fair. My eyes fly open. I don’t even realize they were closed, and I whip around, pushing the women behind my onto the ground.

“What.” I say. “Was that?” I feel full of rage all of a sudden and can’t breathe properly. Reneta puts a hand on my shoulder and I feel calmer. I look at er and she smiles a little.

“That was Nenita. She’s the Goddess of memory and thought.” I take a deep breath and nod, understanding what’s going on. I turn back towards everyone after shaking hands with Nenita. She has violet eyes and african looking skin, with long luxurious black hair in loose curls. Her face looked snarky and arrogant. But I suppose if I knew everyone’s memories and thoughts I would be that way too. Reneta comes and takes Nenita’s hand whispering something in her ear. Nenita nods and glances at me for a moment, before whispering something back into Renata's ear. I wonder what they’re saying, but try not to dwell on it. We leave the wonderful room, going through a small door that leads to a long simple corridor, that reminds me of one of a hotel. I frown a little. The rest of the palace has been extremely extravagant and grand. But now, there’s just a red and brass vase with fake flowers in it, a top a maple-wood table, and simple geometric carpet in similar colors. THe ceiling is the popcorn kind, with little spikes like they had in the seventies to cover up defects in the concrete that always pops little kid’s balloons. I stare at it, confused and turn to Reneta and Nenita, ready to ask why it’s like this.

“Jarek.” Nenita says before I can even open my mouth. “This is his space.” I nod, pretending I understand. I wonder how Nenita knew what I wa going to say, and wonder if she can still reach my mind and read it. I shiver. Ever since she showed up, Reneta won’t look at me. I felt a connection with Renata, someone who can give and understand the calmness of my pain right now. And I wonder if anything I'm feeling right now is real. I wonder if maybe Alena whispered words of calm to me and Reneta made me feel happy. If Nenita put fake memories in my head so that I would help them. And if Alaric wanted them to. But who would tell if it was true? So I keep my mouth shut and just that dark thought seep into my heart. If Nenita an see it and tell everyone, I don’t care. Not one bit. Because if she can read what I think and want, she has every right to it. People are given a power for a reason. And if she has it, who am I to tell her not to use it? A piece of sense in the back of my mind tells me that I need to not think like that, but I don’t listen. I push it further back and pay attention as Alaric knock on the door at the end of the hallway. I still try my best to forget that I don’t want to be here, and wonder why that didn’t come up before. I feel more sure with every second we wait for Jarek to open his door that these people are using me and that I don’t even really want to be here. I take a deep breath just as Jarek opens the door and can’t let it out once he opens the door. He’s over seven feet tall, with a black beard and deep, sad, brown eyes. He looks mildly upset by the fact that they’ve bothered him. I feel like seeping into a non-existent shadow in this well lit corridor.

“Who is this?” He asks, his voice pleasant but a little edgy. Alaric and all the others bow. Jarek looks slightly pleased and nods. They all stand and I have a feeling I should have been bowing, too. I feel my heartbeat quicken and bow my head down, getting on one knee for a moment. Alaric glances at me for a moment and then begins to talk in a low voice to Jarek. Reneta, Alena, and Nenita begin to shift back on forth on their feet, feeling awkward as I do. Finally, Jarek and the man who said he loved me and lied turn around towards all of us, and I feel myself leaning forward, wondering what is in store for me, because all I can do right now is breathe and “Go with the flow”. Jarek opens his mouth to speak, but then Alaric falls to the ground, snoring loudly. Everyones eyes widen when they see a young boy, probably around eighteen or nineteen, standing there, a sly smile lifting up the corner of his lips. He has piercing blue eyes, black curly hair oily on the top of his head, ending at the nape of his neck. I can’t say I’m not amused to see the distinguished Alaric snoring, but I’m too focused on the handsome boy above him.

“Gunnar.” Jarek says, sounding angry. “I thought you were with Spana in Latiquontitte.”  He shakes his head.

“I’ve been out exploring the past three nightfalls, and no one noticed.”  He seems pleased by everyone’s responses, gasping and froing, and Go to your bed. I smile at his arrogance, smiling at how he reminds me of Heather. I suddenly feel a pang again and my smile melts off of my face. It’s too early to think about her. To think about Heather. Gunnar walks up to me, smiling a little.

“Who’s this?” I smile at him.

“I’m Cvita.” He raises his eyebrows.

“Mortal, I assume? You don’t have the annoying silky black hair.” He says the last part to mock seduction, letting his eyelids flutter closed for a moment. I laugh and nod.

“Mortal as they come.” Gunnar shakes his head.

“That can’t be true.” He grins mischievously. “You’ve got this lovely fair hair, and these awesome colored blue and green like the sea.” I giggle, humoring his flirtatious attitude. I glance at Alaric, who’s starting to wake up and sees me teasing.

“You’re Gunnar, I assume?” Gunnar nods and bows with a flourish.

“Yes. That would be right. The only son of a Mortal and an Immortal. My mother is Spana, the goddess of sleep.” He leans towards my ear, putting a hand on my shoulder and I tense up.

“She also,” He whispers, leaning in very close, “Has black silky hair.” I laugh loudly, and everyone begins to stare at us with more intensity. But it feels good to forget and laugh. Jarek helps Alaric stand and glares at Gunnar.

“Gunnar inherited his mother’s power to put people to sleep, and his father’s to be very...Mortal.” I try to ignore the pointed comment about Mortals, but it seeps deep into my heart anyways, lodging itself in my memories. Jarek sets his hand on Gunnar’s shoulder, staring intently into his eyes. “Go to your bed. And stay there, until Spena gets back.” Gunnar nods absently and turns and goes down the hallway. Jarek turns back to me, putting a hand out. I shake it and feel weak all of a sudden. “I am Jarek, God of war, leadership, movement, and stamina.” And then, I fall to the ground, unconscious.

My crazy writing plan

Hellooo! How's everyone today?
Today, I'm gonna talk about my crazy writing plan. :-)

So y'all know about my computer problems, right? (If not, click here.) So, I thought about many options. One was just giving up, but you know I'd never do that, right? :-) So, I had another novel idea while in the shower today, and I wrote up a snippet for that. (If you haven't read it, and feel the need, CLICK.) So, I decided to do something only a teesny bit crazy. ;-) I'm going to try and write 10k (Words) in 15 days. So this is me and my readers-

Me: So, I'm writing 10k and 15 days.
Y'all: WHAAATTT???!!! Why would you do something so cray cray?? Just finish up the remainder on a different novel, that's simpler. And not so dumb. Besides, you have your social life to think about.
Me: ...
Me: ...What social life?
Y'all: ...
Me: And besides, I won NanoWriMo. Si I'm doing it. So there.

So, thanks for he vote of confidence, guys! ...Right?

But anyway, to keep my motivated, I'm gonna post it  here, completely RAW (Meaning not edited.) every few days. I might do a mock cover, too, and if you care for that sort of thing, check out my Pinterest Board for the book. I'm only 65 pins deep right now, but trust me, there will be more. :-) I'm obbbeeeeessseeeed. So there. Leave a comment if you wish to let me know you care/support me in this. (Seriously, I don't get enough comments.) So, my readers, Have a wonderful day.

Writing Wednesday- Chapter 7- Love Blood.

Hi all! I'm gonna post the new chapter for Titanium, but first I'd like to give a warning. This chapter is very gory and intense. So it's not for any of the fainthearted. :-) So enjoy. (Those who aren't white faced scardey cats like me.) 

Chapter 7- Tara

Love blood

I fall asleep on the floor of the room, and wake up to sounds. Scary sounds that I always hated, but coming from someone I don’t know. Crying. I look up and see a horrific image. A girl, bloody and dying, is lying on the floor. I run over to her, gasping and crying, both of us. She grabs my face, and her hands are so cold I almost wrench my hands away. But I stay strong, and tense my muscles to keep me in place.

“They’ll kill you, t-they will.” She stammers, her face strewn with tears, blood and sweat. I’ve been like this so many times before, it seems. Maybe not as bloody as her, but I’ve seen pain, and I understand the pain she feels. I look at this woman, only a few years older than me, probably. She could have had such a life. Once again, for the millionth time in my life, I’m reminded how painful death is. Almost as painful as life. So when she tells me I’m going to die it’s all I can say to tell her;

“Not if I can help it.” I get down close to her face and whisper a lie. “I have a plan.” I feel my heartbeat quicken, telling someone dying a big lie, a painful lie. Her face relaxes and she takes her very last breath, her spirit leaving with it. I reach and take the corpses hand, crying and sobbing. “I don’t have one. Don’t have a plan.” A voice in my head, not my Brain Monkey, says,

Why would you lie?

I wanted her to die happy. If there was a way to do that, that was it.

But you can’t change what happened. Never.

I can’t change anything, ever, someone dying doesn’t change that. I nod, agreeing with myself.

If you do something wrong, and no one is there to see it, does that still make it wrong?

How does that matter? And who are you anyway? The voice continues to drone on. Droning on, until I realize whose voice it is. I stand up, letting the body drop onto the floor.

“You sleazy-” The door opens. “How are you in my head?” Joseph walks in.

“Like that? It’s a new trick we’ve been working on; most people don’t notice b that’s my voice. It’s too garbled for them. They say that’s a sign of weakness.” He almost smiles. “I guess you’re not weak.” I nod.

“Did you think I was? I just saw someone die. I’m still standing, aren’t I?” He sneers and sits on my mattresses bed frame, glancing at the mattress acctorss the room where I threw it last night.

“I suppose. But that’s nothing compared to what your father has done. Getting him to talk is quite hard.” Suddenly, I become a monster, not thinking, just trying to get into the sagging parts of his soul and make them bigger, and sinking my claws into him. I’m surprised when I don’t move. I just smile and say,

“Well, I just get it from him, I guess.” He smiles.

“Not from your mother?” I look down, struck down by how well he knows my dark spots. But then again, he is my father.

“I wouldn’t know.” I say. “She’s not able to tell me what she’s like.” Joseph raises his eyebrows, pleased to have struck a blow.

“Oh? And where is she?” I shrug.

“You tell me.” He smiles.

“Oh no, no, my dear. My Pearl died two years ago. I was wondering about your father’s Pearl.” I look at him, using all my willpower and energy to meet his eyes.

“She’s in a coma.” I say, by voice breaking at the end. He mock pouts.

“What. A. Shame. If she was dead, I would be able to help you. But alas, she’s not. How sad. But of course, you could always have my Pearl.” I frown.

“You said she was dead.” Joseph shakes his head and clicks his tongue.

“Ah, ah. But the bad guys lie, don’t they? Yes, they do.” He says. He grins with his, gets up, and leaves me alone, silenced. He won, and I lost.

As the days, hours, and even minutes, wear on, and I am tested constantly, but still telling him nothing about how I got here. I hear news of my father, but never see him. One day, Joseph shows me a picture of my father being tortured. I flip.

“How dare you! You can lie to me, torture me, and hurt my father, but do not, DO NOT! Dare to throw it back in my face. You are a disgraceful human being.” Then I turn around and refuse to talk him until he leaves. I’m not sure what his “Testing” Is for, maybe the human breaking point, but I do not cooperate whenever possible. He gets inside my head. I yell for him to go away, or don’t even talk to him. When I see someone die, I pray over their body and bury them in my food. They give me food, but I don’t take it. One day, I smudge the cameras with Mayo and stuff a piece of bread into my mouth before cleaning them off. When blood gets on my floor, I clean it up. When someone in my head, I show them the door. I have no breaking point. Until one day. They give me dreams. Horrible dreams. Thumping. Gasping. Crying. Bleeding. I never see much, but the images are horrible. My father eating a beating heart while my mother lies bloody and dead beside him. my mother breaking my head open, laughing as she does so. My father grinning at the graves of all my loved ones. James sticking a knife into someone’s throat. I wake up sweaty and crying. I grab my chair and throw it at the camera, screaming.

“HOW CAN YOU BE SO HORRIBLE? I GAVE WHAT I HAD FOR EVERYTHING! EVERYONE! NOTHING EVER CAME BACK TO ME! NOTHING!!!!I WAS LEFT, BROKEN AND BLOODY, IN ALLEYS AND GRAVEYARDS, LEFT TO BURY MY OWN! TO BURY MY SELF! YOU CAN’T GIVE ME WHAT I NEED? WHAT I TRUELY DESERVE? YOU-” I break off to sob. “YOU GIVE ME BACK MY FATHER!!! AND THEN YOU CAN SEE WHEN MY BREAKING POINT IS! BECAUSE GUESS WHAT? YOU HAVEN'T FOUND IT!” I drop to the ground. “You haven’t found it.” I whisper. I don’t look up, I refuse to look up. I hear screaming and crying, my mother back from the dead, everything I want and everything I hate. I don’t look at anything, I just let tears come down, down, making the ground around me wet. I don’t look up. Until I hear one tired, dry, loving voice. I look up and see him, He smiles at me.

“Tara.” Is all he says. I sob, but don’t have any tears left. Nothing comes out when I try to tell him how glad I am to see. Him. Finally I choke out one word. The word I have wanted to say for the longest time.

“Father.”

Writing Wednesday- Titanium, Chapter 6

Chapter 6- Tara

Scared out of my mind

Is life supposed to be so scary? Are we all supposed to live in fear of another horrible thing happening to you? I used to lived in fear that my father would lose his job, the only thing that seemed to work for us. He is and was an amazing scientist. I learned from him, and we bonded. My father used to be only thing in my life that wasn’t tainted. The only thing that made sense. My father, who always knew what to do, my father, who was always able to laugh in the face of death. I hope that his talent for that carried as well as I think it did. Anyway, James and J convinced me that I should get some sleep before I have to be taken. So I lie down on J’s thin pillow and cover myself with James’s jacket. They promised they would wake me and wouldn’t go instead of me. So, I sleep. And I dream. I dream of my parents.

We all sit outside on the hill beside My Aunt’s house, just me, my father, and my mother. For some reason I can’t quite identify, I feel like I need to be somewhere. But we have a picnic lunch with us, so we all get our sandwiches out and eat, my father telling jokes and my mother laughing so hard I should worry. But I don’t. instead I say,

“Mom? You’re okay, right?” She looks at me, frowning.

“Of course I am, dear. Why wouldn’t I be?” Her voice is just the way it should be. Caring, happy, and safe. I shake my head.

“I don’t know. Of course you're fine. I love you mom.” My mother laughs and takes my hand, my father taking my other. They join hands together and we just sit there, smiling. Suddenly, a dark light passes over us, red so bright, I’m almost blinded, and a black so dark, I want to curl up into a ball and hide myself from it. I am crying, screaming, yelling, and I don’t even know what’s going on. Then, my father grows up to a huge size and crushes my mother in his hands. I continue to scream until I hear James’s voice calling my name,

“Tara? It’s James. Wake up!” I open my eyes and see James and J standing over me.

“It’s time.” J says, pointing at the sky. It’s starting to turn red, and there's an unsettling purple in the background. I stand up, drinking in the wonderful moment on the ground.Then, I shake away the image of my father grabbing up my mother’s body and crushing it and replace it with an image of all of us together. Me, James, My parents, and I’m surprised to see J in that image too. I preserve the image, smile at my friends, and run towards the high mountain where I am most likely to be chosen to for the Taking. I dare to take a look behind me. It doesn’t help. I see James and J embrace for a single second then watch me walk away, trying not to make me come back. I don't know what’s going to happen to them, or to me, but it occurs to me that I have as way to get away from danger. With my phone. They don’t have anything. You should have left it with them. I nod, not in the mood to have an argument with myself. I curse under my breath, Then close my eyes to clear the tears that plague them and continue running up the hill. The sky took longer to change this time, and I’m not sure what that means. Maybe that their power is going towards something bigger? Something that might be able to hurt my father. I see a beam of light coming closer to me and stop. I know that I’m the one that will be chosen. It’s not stoppable. I close my eyes, and pray for the safety of my friends, my father, and the earth in general, and let the beam take me.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

I feel the pressure on my body release, and feel the ground underneath my feet. I sigh and drop to the ground, exhausted. I sit halfway up, one foot on the ground, both my hands out to steady myself. I look around. I’m in a ship, I know because I can see the sky turning back to its wonderful blue outside the window. I look behind me and see that I’m being watched. There’s a camera in the corner, and on the bed beside a window. A projector screen comes down and I see My father there, reading off a script.

“I am Joseph Lexton. You know me as your ruler. I am now your fellow scientist, and then, If you live, your executioner.” I look at his face, exactly the same face I saw one day ago. I stare at him as he drones on about my death, my testing, and the like. I think, look up. See me. Remember who you are. Finally he looks up from his paper and drops his pen. I gasp. This is not my father. He has a scar down the left side of his face, making his un-fatherly sneer look more evil.

“You...” He stammers. “You’re dead.” I stumble over to the bed.

“No... I’m not. Who are you? What have you done with my father?” He frowns.

“You are my daughter. You died 3 year ago, when your mother did.”He looks horrified and on the verge of tears, and he has another look in his eyes that I can’t quite place, but I know it scares me. I shake my head.

“This is impossible. “ I whisper breathlessly. The man who is and isn’t my father nods. Then sudden realization dawns on his face.

You’re Tara Pearl Lexton?” I nod. He narrows his eyes. “Do you have a childhood scar in your right eyebrow?” I shake my head.

“It’s on my left eyebrow.” The man shakes his head and swears loudly.

“You’re my daughter! No...” He nods. “You’re my alternate dimension daughter. I frown.

“You’re...” I begin. He swears again. I raise my eyebrows, then let them drop again, not understanding. “You... Have my father! You... took him!” I scream. “You’re the him from here!” I say, realizing what’s going on and hating it. I open my mouth, letting my jaw hung there, suspended in the air.

What’re you going to do now, Genius? I try and push my stupid Brain Monkey’s comments away and look at the retrieving screen. I look around the room and see a table rising from the ground with sandwich fixings on it. I walk over to it and take out some bread. I lay it on the napkin and spin the top off of the mayo. I dip a spoon deep into it and scrape it across the bread. I lay the ham and turkey on the bread and put another piece on top of that. Then, I take up the sandwich and throw it on the ground.

“I refuse to eat this. I don’t care what you want with me, I won’t do a thing until I get my father back and leave.” I walk over to the bed and tip it over, sitting where it used to be. I wait for what feels like forever, but I probably closer to five minutes, then the door closest to me opens. I don’t look up to see who it is, because I know. It’s him.

“You’re quite the rebel.” I look up and see that his face is not quite at scary when it’s normally sized. I meet his eye with what I hope is a defiant glare. He frowns. “Since you know your father as Dad, if you wish you may call me that as well.” I shake my head.

“You’re nothing like my father.” I sneer. He laughs bitterly.

“I would think quite the opposite, my dear. I am your father. I have the same mind and body. However, who are you? Why would you be here?” He’s challenging me, but I don’t have time for this. I take it.

“I am Tara. I am the only Tara, apparently, who had the guts to live.” Now it’s his turn to be challenged. He opens his mouth and closes it several times before settling on just sneering at me. After a moment, He roars at me;

“She was full of life, you swine!” I gasp. “She had more life than you even could! The worst thing that ever happened to me was losing her.” I stand up, feeling taller than I ever have.

“First of all, I am as full of life as her. I do recall you saying, ‘I have the same mind and body’, but I could be wrong. And second of all, the worst mistake you ever made was bringing me here!” I say, my voice rising with every word I say. He scoffs again and looks at me with hard eyes.

“I was going to offer you a place, a chance for life, even with your father, but you have shown yourself to be unworthy. I thought you would remind me of my daughter, but you don’t. You are a despicable person, Tara. You don’t deserve to own a name.” He stands up slowly, brushing off the dust in his lap that doesn’t exist, and walks out the door while I scream horrible, horrible, awful things at him. And then, after I’m sure he’s out of hearing range, I drop down to the floor and cry. Sobbing, crying, thinking of nothing. Because I know. I know that what I did was stupid and rash, and I am a despicable human being.

Writing Wednesday- An update and a chapter.

Hey hey all! Elsie here! Thanks for reading this week! :-) First, I'm gonna update you on what's going on with writing this week, and this month. 
This month, I'm starting a novel called Mirror. I really like this one, and I'm gonna post the synopsis in a minute. I may even take a break from Titanium for a while to post, but not yet. I need to keep up with this. 

Crystal has a secret. One she's ben hiding all her life. But when her father, the king, becomes fatally ill, and she needs to take over the throne, everything goes wrong, and all she wants is to be free.When the only person she's ever told her secret is gone She runs away, killing all in her wake, and lives alone for too long. But you can't be alone forever. She finds some friends, and learns to control the feeling of darkness she has inside.

So I might mention this now and again on Wednesdays, because that's what Im working on. but now, without furthur ado, I present, Titanium, Chapter 5.

Chapter 5-J

Decisions

At this point, the only feeling I could conjure up was confusion. Tara’s father? Gone. Then… find out he’s on the top of your most hated list, which by the way, right underneath that, is your parents’ names. So… I feel sad. And confused. And not much else.

“J?” Tara asks me, her eyes empty but trying hard to care. “Are you okay?” I nod and shake my head at the same time. Tara nods, her dark, chapped lips pursed in a thin, concentrated line. I look down at her, seeing how upset she is. My Brain Monkey decides to tell me what he thinks of this.

How can you care so much about this girl you barely know? She’s just a random girl from another place.

A random girl that cares about me. Me.  not who my parents are, or whether I live in a house or on the street in an alley. So, Brian Monkey, that is why. That is why I care.

“How ‘bout you, Tara? Are you okay?” I ask. She shakes her head, glances at James, and looks to the ground. James and I both step forward at the same time and give her a hug, sandwiching her between us. Remember, I tell myself. The two of us are the only ones who know about all this. Her only friends right now. Only. Keep her safe, dummy. These people are the chance you have for a life. I nod in agreement with myself.

“I’ll keep you safe, Tara. We’ll figure this out.” I say, and James nods.

“You can tell us anything. We boys don’t know anything, except that you’re basically the only thing in life that’s worth it.” James says, and Tara nods, takes a deep breath and pushes all of us apart.

“Alright.” She grins, trying to lighten the heavy air.“You guys are extremely poetic all of a sudden.” I shrug, and James just shakes his head, making an odd face. Then, all of us get our game faces on, and put our arms up for a huddle. James has a few tears on his face, complimenting his set jaw and determined eyes. From the moment I saw him, he became the person I had wanted to be when I was 13. And it’s amazing. These people who haven’t gotten along in years, or barely know each other, are uniting to save someone. I wipe my first tear away and face my new team.

“Joseph lives in a ship in the sky, high in security. He conducts all his experiments and has all his meetings up there. Let’s just say he never leaves. What’s the plan?” James looks at me then over at Tara. Tara looks back at him then over to me.

“Okay. No plan, then. Want to just jump in, then?” I say, trying for a laugh. But apparently, it’s not time for that, because Tara hides her face and James purses his lips. “Apparently not.” I mutter. “We have to do something.” Tara and James nod.

“Is there any way we can get in? Any way at all?”I start to shake my head, then stop short. “Well…” I say. “It’s…” James leans forward on his heels, anticipating something. “It won’t be easy to pull off, and if we can, it won’t be fun.” James nods, and Tara looks like she knows where this is going. “What needs to happen is one of us needs to be taken.” Tara looks faint.

“You mean the sky… and…” I nod. She swallows hard. “When is the next one?” I shake my head.

“You can never know.” James frowns.

“Um, hi. I kind of need to know what’s going on…” He says, looking a bit terrified. He has a right to it, of course. Given the situation, I think we can all be a bit terrified.

“James, I’m going to tell you what a Taking is, and you need to promise not to freak out.” ,James nods. I decide not to waste time. “Three times a week, our lovely ruler abducts someone and experiments on them. If they don’t survive that, and the chances are less than none he kills them afterward. That is the only way someone he doesn’t know gets on that ship.” Tara reaches over and takes James’s hand, both of them looking completely frightened.. I look at them both square in the eye.

“I’ll go.” I say flatly. Tara shakes her head.

“You can’t! You might get hurt!” I look at her.

“Then who should go? You? James?” I yell. I can’t take this anymore, feeling useless. ”What did you do to deserve that? I don’t have anything or anyone to go back to! The least I can do is give you the family I never had!” Tara looks at me, her eyes hollow and full of so many emotions, as if deciding whether I’m a monster or a saint. Finally, after a painful question and a heavy breath from James, Tara sits up tall.

“Who do you think you are? Some kind of knight in shining armor come to save me? I can do things myself!” She stands up and walks up to me, looking into my eyes. “All my life, I’ve made it alone!” Tara continues. “My mother- In a hospital since I was just a little kid, my father, never the same since! I don’t think that I need you, of all people to save me!” Then, I pop. A scoff breaks out of me, and I feel like it doesn’t belong.

“Of all people? Me? So, after telling me that even know you don’t know me, AT ALL! You say that I’m so evil! No one would want to know Jahleel Clark! He’s-” I let a sob break out, just this once. “He’s no one.” Tara narrows her eyes at me. She’s in no mood to sympathize.

“No.” She says simply, her eyes empty and begging for me to hurt her, begging for me to throw a punch, but knowing I never will. “You’re not anyone. You have nothing.” Tara walks backwards, looking right at me. “And I don’t need you. Not any-” James steps in between us, interrupting Tara.

“I’ll do it.” He turns around, begging Tara to challenge him. “I’ll do it.” Tara shakes her head, not meeting anyone’s eyes. No one says anything. I really don’t know what to do. I am really willing to do this. Tara looks at me, over to James, and stands up, looking more composed than she should be.

“No.” She looks back and forth between the two of us. “I know you want to do something for me, but he’s my father. It’s very important that I do this on my own.” I don’t know what to say.

“I-” James starts. “I just... I just got to be your friend again. How can you just leave?” Tara takes her cousins hand and looks at him sadly.

“That’s exactly why. Because I love you. You need to be there for your brothers. Your sisters. You got a whole lot more life to live. I have no idea what I’m going to find up there, but know, that I wouldn’t change this. I have my best friend back, even if it’s only for a little while.” James nods, a new respect in his eyes. They hug, and I feel like I’m reading a novel, her words so poetic. She breaks away, they tap their thumbs against each other, and she walks over to me.

“Jahleel, huh?” I nod.

“The secrets out, I guess.” I say feebly, knowing this joking is only to forget for a simple second. She smiles at me.

“It’s a nice name, J.” I manage to smile. “Just so you know J, you are someone. I was in trouble, and you saved me. It was amazing. You’ve been a good friend. Just promise me you’ll be a good friend to James while I’m gone.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” He’s a great kid, from what I see.” Tara nods, and then looks deeply into my eyes. I look at hers, a browning green, and seething with rage. With their wonderful green middle, and a brown ring mingling together in a beautiful gradient, with a dark, thin, navy ring around it all, framing them in wonder. I smile at her, and she back at me. I hear James groan and I grin. Tara grins back at me and kisses me on the cheek. James steps in between us, pushing our hands apart. I hadn’t noticed that she had intertwined her fingers with mine, but now my hand feels cold and tingles from her touch.

“Enough affection for now, alright?” James looks at me with eyebrows raised. I nod.

“Yes, Sir.” We all laugh, knowing that there might be little time to so later.