My second children’s book in the Chico the Chihuahua series is ready. The first one I did, the pictures looked horrible (in book format), so I unpublished it. This one looks much better, I’m gonna republish it. I just knew it would look terrible like the last one. It gives me hope for the first one. I’m going to redo it.
Join Chico as he goes exploring around our neighborhood.
Well, it could have been worse. All the amazing holiday food, plus a birthday, I’m back to where I started. Frustrating? A little. But I did it to myself. On the plus side, I didn’t go over my starting point. So there’s that I guess. Now that all the cookies, cakes and pies are out of the way, time to get back on the proverbial horse.
I lied just a little. I was gifted a homemade loaded carrot cake. This thing is so good it’s probably 1,000 calories an ounce. Oh my.
If you have made weight-loss your goal for the future, take it slow. Small changes really do make a difference. Stay 💪🏻 my friends. You got this.
*This is not medical advice. Please speak with your healthcare provider before undertaking any kind of plan. This is my journey to better health.
Last year my billboard was a Bible verse. “Jesus wept.” John 11:35. I think it is still relevant.
I’ve worked it into the next installment of my story. Thanks for reading. 💕
The chase
Evie’s heart was pounding out of her chest. Sweaty hands gripped the steering wheel. A big black suv got behind her a few miles away from the turn to Sunshine Valley. It wasn’t until she got off the ‘big road’ (as locals called it), did the suv start to harass her. And honestly, there were hundreds of big black suvs. There was no need to worry? Until there was.
The road into Sunshine Valley was 2 lane and had been all of Evie’s life. Her dad and the other ole timers could remember the dirt road and the low water bridge that was the only way out of town.
The flood of 57’ changed all that. Sunshine Valley was cut off from the world for months as flood waters slowly receded. It took 3 weeks for the army corp of engineers with the national guard to get boats to the valley. State government promised this would never happen again.
This drive was called ‘The Lonely Road’. No houses. Just a few scenic wide spots and miles of trees. Evie didn’t think it lonely. She enjoyed the peace it provided. Except today. This suv needed to leave her alone.
It was when it rammed her that she knew it was more than just a hot headed local or a menacing teenager. Cell service was spotty. It took her 5 tries to connect with 911. Even then she wasn’t sure they got the message. Contacting Dillon directly hadn’t crossed her mind. Staying alive was her primary objective.
One more try to call 911. She had no idea if any one really picked up the autodialed call. It had rang through. Now all she heard was dead air. The suv hit her again. “Jesus wept!” She squealed, trying to maintain control of her nerves and her car.
Why was this happening? She hadn’t cut anyone off. She had obeyed all the traffic laws. Did someone not like the looks of her car? Her body jolted forward as her car was knocked forward again. Should she floor it and let the road kill her or the driver behind her?
For the answer of todays prompt, the next section of my story. Enjoy.
Emotional vampires
Dillon knocked on Evie’s door. The smell of food filled his nose, causing his stomach to growl.
She opened the door with a smile but her mood quickly changed. There was a light dusting of snow on Dillon’s shoulders. His nose was turning red from the cold. With a gentle touch, she brushed the snow off his coat. “Snow.” It was a whispered breath like she had never seen snow in her life. “Snow!” She shouted, running, twirling, through the snow. There was a skift on the ground; she kicked at it. It puffed a little before falling back to the ground.
Being ever on duty, he shut her front door before following her with curiosity around the house. First, she made at a snow angel. Then she rolled back and forth in the snow, giggling. He got as much snow in his hands as he could, letting it fall on top of her. She kicked and waved her arms at it, laughing the whole time. He said down with her in the snow, “do you know how beautiful you are?”
She pursed her lips, looking quizzically at him. “Me?!” She questioned.
He know longer cared that it was cold. That is clothes were getting wet. With an unsteady touch, he caressed her cheek. He wasn’t paying attention to her hands. A scream of surprise escaped him as snow flowed down his back. She laughed. They rolled around in the snow, playing for hours.
“Do you always have a change of clothes in your truck?” She asked as they walked into the hall at the same time.
“One in my truck. One in the suv.” In the kitchen, he leaned over the pot, inhaling the steam. “Granny soup,” he gasped.
She blushed, “granny soup. There should be plenty for you to take some to work and for dad to have a bowl.”
“Cornbread?” He asked about the time a ding filled the kitchen.
“Cornbread.”
“This is amazing.” He moaned.
She giggled, “it’s not quite right but it’s close.”
“Delicious.”
“Dillon, thank you.”
He stopped, looking at her. “You’re welcome?” His tone questioned.
She played with her soup for a moment, “thank you for not being an emotional vampire.”
‘Emotional vampire,’ he sat there thinking about that phrase. ‘Emotional vampire.’ Finally asking, “would you care to explain that in some detail? You have always loved playing in the rain and snow.”
Her glance was toward her soup. She mindlessly stirred at it before speaking. “Remember me telling you, you and dad never made fun of me?” He nodded, yes. “If mom was able to tell the difference between playing or getting caught outside, she would lecture me for hours. Doug did the same thing but on a different scale. His was being unproductive. Every waking minute of the day had to be full. Laying around on the couch, sleeping in, play for the sake of playing was a no-no. They had the ability to suck the joy out of a situation.”
Simon was sittin’ starin’ at the furnace. His mind was a million miles away. Reliving the comments Rebecca had made about the sheriff made him shiver and feel dirty. Life was precious. A gift from God. What you did with it was your choice. He was sure the sheriff had no power over his mother when she died. That was his cross to bear. It disgusted him that HIS WIFE found delight in the suffering of others. Surely God had a reason for what had happened.
He jumped 10 feet in the air when Rebecca’s voice cut through his silence. “What doin’?” She asked with a smile, “where was your head at?” She pulled up a bucket, turned it over to sit on it with him. “Thinkin’ about our delicious night?”
“No, sorry. I can’t help but feelin’ sadness for the sheriff about his mother.”
She purred, “my sensitive husband.”
He turned to face her, “don’t you?”
“No, he deserves what he got.”
“How can you say that?” Simon was shocked to his core.
She shrugged, “how long has that man been sheriff? You can’t be in office that long and not be a crook. You know he can’t be a good person.”
“I have never heard anyone say anything bad about him.”
“You have read the stories Sunshine Sue published about him.”
“And you have read the retractions and follow-ups. Sunshine Sue is a joke. All she cares about is the number of followers she can get.” Simon voiced angrily. “Draggin’ someone else through the mud just so you can create click bait makes you a horrible person.”
“She has a right to make a livin’.” Rebecca smirked.
“Not at the expense of others.”
“Well,” she shrugged, “I’m glad he had to suffer.”
“I’m not.”
Anger shot across her face, “are you saying I don’t have the RIGHT,”. She put great inflection on the word – right. “to feel joy at his misfortune?”
“You can feel whatever you want to feel. It doesn’t make me happy.”
“You’re too sensitive.” She left as abruptly as she had appeared.
Dillon climbed in his truck. He looked desperately at his phone, willing Evie to call him. When that didn’t work, he did the big boy thing and called her.
Her voice was sweet, light, and melted half of his stress away. “Hi lawman.”
“Care if I stop by?”
“Not at all. Want me to feed you?”
“Not yet. I’m too,” he thought. What was the right word? He finally just said it, “stressed out of my mind.”
“Get your grits here lawman.”
“On my way.”
She opened the door to being scooped up in a hug. “I’m sorry you had a stressful day.” He kissed her, “come here.” She sat with her back against the wall, pulling her knees up. Then guided him to lean against her calfs. With gentle fingers, she massaged his scalp and temples.
“That,” he moaned. “Feels so good.” She didn’t say anything. Just kept massaging. “I have been that the courthouse all day neck deep in lawyer piss.”
She stop massaging his head, doing her best not to bust out laughing. Full of curiosity, as to why she stopped, he leaned up. It was apparent that she was loosing her battle not to laugh. He grinned, “you think that’s funny.”
“You talked about dad havin’ colorful phrases. That is on par with something that would flow from his lips.”
“He did use the phrase ‘donkey piss’ a lot.” They both started laughing. Dillon’s stomach growled, “what was you gonna feed me?”
“How hungry are you?”
“I’ve been too big of a stress ball to eat anything today.”
“Let’s raid the pantry together.”
“Let’s,” he said playfully.
As they climbed out of the floor, he first to help her up, she started speaking. “Do you think we should do a pre-nup?” All of the air was sucked out of the room. At the same time he felt like she had kicked him in the gut. What the?! A pre-nup was for rich folks.
That’s what he blurted out. “Aren’t those for rich folks?”
“You do hear about them more with people that have lots of assets and money. I think it’s just smart.” He didn’t say a word. “Tell me what you’re thinking.” She encouraged.
“It feels like you don’t trust me. When you said the words, it felt like a kick to the gut.”
“I apologize for it hittin’ that way. Marriage isn’t something to be entered into lightly. We want to stay married the rest of our lives. Statistically, we know that’s not likely to happen. It is important for both of us to be protected.” The look on his face was one of utter disappointment. She held his face in her hands, “pray about it.”
Poetry & More 