Amelia's Blog

        Raph smiled in triumph as he finished the latest Sudoku puzzle. He dropped the book of puzzles on the table next to his chair and pulled off his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. "You really shouldn't stay up so late, you know." He smiled, this time in amusement, as he heard Glory's voice chide him. It had become a bit of a ritual of late. If she came in at night, she'd tell him to go to bed. While she couldn't always visit at night, "Miss Glory" always made sure to say good night to Cassandra, which delighted her to no end and something which Gloriana was more than happy to do. "I know. I just finished a puzzle, starting to think about sleep." She just raised an amused eyebrow. "What? I was!" "Of course you were, dear." Strangely, it didn't feel strange to not have her ask how his day was. As his and Cassie's "gaurdian" she knew full well how his day went. Though he...

Several weeks later, it was nearing Cassie's birthday. Gloriana made regular visits, and Cassie made an observation to her father in a way that only a five year old could. "Daddy?" "Yes, sweetie?" "You like Miss Glory?" "Of course. It's nice to have visitors." He wasn't even looking away from his paper. "Does Miss Glory like you?" Raph gave a half shrug, "I guess so. I don't think she'd keep appearing to us if she didn't." Cassandra seemed to think about that, her small face screwed up in the thoughtful childish way, "Too bad you can't marry a ghost. You've seemed a lot happier since she's been around, Daddy." It took a moment for that to sink into Rafael's distracted mind. When it did, he sputtered through the mouthful of coffee he had sipped. "Cassie!" He coughed and wiped up the spray of coffee with a napkin. "Honey, it doesn't work like that. A man and wo...

Okay, here's what I've figured. As this new "Ghost Story" is the third story, I'm going to shoot for four rotating stories. Not sure what after Ghost Story (yes, I suck at naming), but I do have some portions of a sci-fi idea written. Not really sure yet. That should do two things: help keep my juices flowing and keep things fresh here. I've been tagging each post by the story's temp name, and assuming I can come up with a final name, they'll be tagged that way eventually. I'd also like to try and break the stories up into chapters for the next round, so that might mean shorter durations between the different blocks. We'll see. Okay then! Please let me know your thoughts, what you like, what you don't, any glaring plot holes or continuity errors :) All I ask is keep it polite! Thanks! ~Mike

Well. Ghost story it is. I was rather surprised at how well this one flowed. I’ve got some stuff to think about, but I plan to toss another blog post later today with those thoughts. Till then, enjoy! # # # "Daddy?" Raphael Larsen looked up from his half-done crossword at his five year old daughter Cassandra. She rubbed her eyes sleepily as she stood in the doorway of Raph's office. "What is it Cassie honey?" "There a woman in my room. She's really annoying me." Alarmed, Raph stood up and walked to his daughter, "Are you sure? It wasn't a bad dream?" She shook her head. "No, Daddy." "Okay peanut," he picked her up and carried her back down the hall to her bedroom. He looked around the room. "I don't see anyone, sweetheart. Are you sure?" "Yes, she was in the rocking chair in the corner. Tell her to stop looking at me, Daddy!" Raph smiled at Cassie and put her down on the bed and tucked her i...

Excuses, excuses, I know. However, I was thinking that, like Adventure (name pending...) this might be a good time for a break. I'm wondering if it might be a good thing to go back to Adventure for a bit, or start something new. There is a small ghost story that's been percolating. We'll see. I'm working on the ghostie-thing at lunch, and if nothing percolates well enough, I'll see which, Adventure or Untitled, is at the fore. I really need better names for these. Hmm. Maybe a contest?

         Hello everyone. I thank you for last weeks indulgence. It was rough, but we’ve got a nice spot picked out for our Tami. Odd as it may sound, we have our cats cremated. It helps us to have them near, even in spirit. We’ve got a sweet picture of her near her favorite spot, just waiting for her ashes to come back. It may sound stupid or morbid, or whatever, but it helps us. We miss her dearly, and this, to us anyway, is a way to keep her near. Anyway, enough of that. It’s a new week, four days ‘till Wizard World Chicago, and I aim for this to be a kick-ass week. In that spirit, on with the show... # # #         Deb let herself in to Robbie’s apartment, not entirely sure how to break the news to him. She dropped her purse and his coat on the couch and looked into the kitchen. It was empty, but he had cleaned up the toothpicks, thankfully. She walked over to his bedroom door, and cracked it open. he was ...

Her name was Tami. She was 21 years old. She got her name because of the markings on her face. She looked like she had tons of make-up on, so we named her Tami after the then-household name Tammy-Faye Baker. She had a good run. We loved her very much. Scratch that. We LOVE her very much. She could barely move anymore and she wasn't eating or drinking. We didn't want to do it, but if we didn't put her down, she could have lingered, and none of us would have been able to stand seeing her that way. Anyone who has had to put a beloved pet down knows how we feel right now. It doesn't matter that we have others, it doesn't matter that she "was just a cat." She was, and still is, a big part of our family. I was eleven when we got her, and it is going to be very hard to know she won't be complaining at us for more ice in her water, or for filling her bowls, or any number of other things that we will remember her for. She will be missed. I don't know if I...

        Ah, here we are. Again, sorry ‘bout the missed update yesterday. Back on track now though! # # #         They sat together in his kitchen. Probably longer than he should have, Deb thought, but then again it’s not like she really cared. Her best friend was scared. Rob hid it well, sure, but he was. Even shortly after they met, it was hard to hide things from each other. Why they didn’t just hop into each other’s arms was still a mystery to her.         She shook that thought off right away. No time for that, she told herself.         They didn’t really talk about anything in particular. This and that. Deb told him a couple of stories from work, how many people were bugging her about him. He laughed, which cheered her up a lot. Finally, she figured she should get back to the office. Their boss was understanding, but even sh...

Yeah, the weekend really got away from me. I didn't even realize I'd forgotten until I was dozing off last night, but by that time... well, I figured you'd rather have something coherent to read ;) Anyway, humblest apologies. We'll be back on track tomorrow morning.

Deb grunted and let out a muffled curse as she had to shove her shoulder into Rob's door a few times to get it open. She hated that door. "Robbie? It's Deb." Though saying it was her was probably unnecessary, it was borne out of habit. Though she'd never say it to him, she hoped for the day where separate apartments wouldn't even be necessary. But. She shrugged to herself. "Rob?" She turned into the kitchen and stopped short. The kitchen table was strewn with small sticks of plastic. "What the hell?" "Hey Deb! I discovered something!" "What, a previously untapped vein of plastic toothpicks in the cupboard?" "Cute. No, this morning I ended up absorbing part of my keyboard." "You what?" "No, it's okay!" "How the hell is that okay?" Rob gestured to the toothpicks on the table. it took a moment to click but, "Holy... you...?" He gri...

"You sure you want to go further?" Rob snorted. "I need to know. Plus Marqea pissed me off." Larry laughed, "Yeah, I suppose. You wanna go over what I managed to dig up?" Larry pulled into his parking spot at the apartment building. Rob shook his head and opened the door, "Later. Deb'll want to know too. And I don't want to remember all that." They both got out, Larry shaking his head. "You keep putting temptation in my way." "Pfft. Larry if you keep it up, she's gonna kick you in the balls. You know that, right?" Larry laughed but didn't say anything. When they stopped before the editor Larry put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't dig too deep. I've got other friends that can do that and be relatively safe. You can't, and you're already on the radar." He paused and smiled wryly, "Plus you're the only reason Deb even tolerates me." "Ha. I'll be care...

"Well, I suppose it was a matter of time. Although I had hoped your right arm would have been the extent of it." Doctor Marqea studied Rob's fingers, examining the perfectly formed plastic joints. He shook his head and pushed his glasses up onto his head. "I wish I knew what to tell you." Rob nodded, "I know. I'm just glad I didn't pass out this time. It felt strange, like my fingers were being pushed up. My hand feels thicker, heaver almost." "Hmm. Could it be that your flesh isn't being replaced but displaced?" "How do you mean?" "Your hand doesn't have less flesh than before, just added the plastic, making the rest of your hand more dense. In the case of your right arm, your bones may have increased in density." He paused, thinking. "That would explain why I didn't get more than a dense blob on the x-ray. This is interesting. A lot less worrying that actually replacing yo...

"Robbie. Robbie, wake up." "Buh. Jus' ten more minutes, mom" "Oh knock it off you big baby!" "What?" Rob blinked and pulled the covers down from his head. Deb was standing there smirking. "Y'know it's rude to wake a guy up on is day off." She just grinned. "What?" "You are SUCH a boy, you know that?" "Last I checked." She laughed, "Oh come on. You can go back to bed, I'm just checking on you." "Why'd I give you that key again?" Deb just rolled her eyes, "Just wanted to make sure everything is okay this morning. Don't forget, you've got the rest of the week off, too." He nodded. "Okay." "You. You're okay, though?" "Yeah, still weirded out though. I'll be fine Deb. Get outta here." He gave a tired smile. She smiled back and nodded. "Okay. If you need anything..." "I'll call you, mom." He smi...

"Uh...," Rob said, staring at the computer screen.         "Doctor Antonius Marqea," Deb read, "Headed up the Center for Disease Control's Retroviral Mutation department for five years before resigning. No one has ever been able to interview him on the subject, all inquiries having been rejected."         "Rob, this is very important. Have you told anyone else about your arm yet?"         "What? No. You and Deb are the only ones that know."         "Good. Promise me you won't tell anyone else."         "Why?"         "Just promise me, dammit."         "Okay, okay! Promise."         Larry sagged in evident relief and went and sat next to Rob. "Thanks. Look, there's already ...

"I still don't see why you want to talk to Larry." Rob grunted as she pulled into her parking spot. "He's into conspiracies." He shrugged. "Maybe he's heard something. It's worth a try, anyway." "I know he's your friend, but you can't really buy into that stuff? It's all crazy talk." "Most of it is crazy talk," he corrected. "There have been things once relegated to conspiracy theory that have proved to be more true than not. The trick is to sift through the chaff." Rob shrugged again. "No, I don't buy into all of it, but you have to admit this is high strangeness, Deb. I have a wooden arm. Who knows what the others came down with." She frowned, "Yeah. It is strange. I... guess it doesn't hurt. This is just too weird." Rob laughed. "Yeah, it is. I appreciate this, Deb." She looked at him sidelong, "What?" "Just being here." Deb snorted, and l...

        When Deb checked in on Rob the next day, his room was empty. Alarmed, she found the nearest nurses' station and asked if they knew where he was.         "Oh, he's still in testing. Doctor Marqea wanted to be quite thorough with the patient."         "Are they going to be done soon? I'm Mr. Dalton's ride home."         The nurse shrugged as she pecked away at her keyboard. "Sorry, they don't really tell us that."         Deb grunted softly in annoyance. "Is there any way I can find out where he is?"         "Are you family?"         "No, but I might as well be."         "Sorry. Only family are allowed in testing."         Deb ...

        Leaving him with a black cotton sleeve to cover his arm and the reminder that he's there with a reaction to a skin condition, they let people in to see Robbie later that day. The first person in the room was his best friend Deb, of course. They met on Robbie's first day at work and bonded almost instantly.         They didn't have time to talk before a few well-wishers from the office came by, followed by flowers and some clean clothes from his landlady, Millie and her son Larry. As he went over the reason he was told to tell people he was there, Deb cocked her head and looked at him as if to say "The Hell?" Robbie shook his head briefly as if to say "later", and accepted the good wishes of his office-mates.         "Let's see the rash, Rob!"         "Ah, no Barb. The insides of the glove has some gunk or something that's...

        Robbie heard his name being called softly, he wasn't sure where he was.         "Mr. Dalton? Robbie?"         Robbie giggled suddenly, and slurred out "I had the strangest dream. I was being turned into a puppet."         As Robbie giggled again, slightly maniacally, the person above him placed his hand on Robbie's shoulder. Didn't he? His whole right arm felt almost distant, "Mr. Dalton, I'm afraid it wasn't a dream."         The absolute absurdity of that statement forced Robbie to open his eyes. A dark skinned man wearing glasses was standing over him. "Uh. Am... am I in a hospital?"         "Yes. I'm Doctor Marqea Please don't make any sudden movements. You had an... incident..."         The doctor's...

        Okay, as I talked about, here’s the start of a different story. This one’s been stalling in my head, and considering how well “Adventure” went, this is the perfect way for me to break that stalemate. I think this will end up being longer than Adventure, but I started writing this one as a short story, so I guess that might show. I don’t really have a name for this one yet. If you have any thoughts after reading, let me know! Thanks, and enjoy!         # # #         Bolero is a small town cut in half by the Animas River in Southern Colorado. Not a large city, Bolero has a well developed downtown center, with a few office and apartment buildings. The real pride of the town is the Bolero Tech College which, thanks to the Centers For Disease Control, is a regional biological and bio-technical research center.         No one q...