Author Journey: January 27, 2023 - The Knotted Knee & Other Struggles

 Welcome back fellow writers and readers! I hope you're ready for another prompt and short story. Maybe you're looking forward to seeing what's been going on in my writing and my life in general. Whatever the case, feel free to read on and I'll get right to work.

Author Journey: Struggling

This past week, I really struggled with whether or not I should continue my writing. I don't hear much from anyone but fellow writers and no one leaves comments here, even though the invitation is open. It's discouraging. I just don't know which direction I should go from here. I'll be praying and seeking God's direction on this. 

Writer's Life: The Knotted Knee

Life is definitely a struggle. I hurt my shin, not actually my knee. It's a mystery to me how it happened, but I now have a knot at the top of my shin, right below my knee. Then, on Sunday, I tripped and caught myself on that injured leg. So most of Monday was spent sitting with my leg elevated. I have a hard time when I'm forced to sit. Who's with me? 

Spartacus is still thriving and gives us a lot of joy and only a few moments of head-shaking. I'm thankful for him. 

Just Keep Writing: Friday Fascicles

If this is your first time participating in this kind of writing exercise, you're in for a treat. If you've done this with me before, just keep scrolling for the prompt.

Rules:

1. You can use any/all of the words and/or the photo in the prompt below to create a unique written work. Fiction or nonfiction, poetry or prose, even lyrics are acceptable.  
2. Please keep the material you write clean (ie. nothing R-rated or worse) if you wish to share the link to your work here, as well as if you link back to my site. I strive to keep my site free of such things. My readers know and expect this. I respect your right to write whatever you feel you need to write. And you're free to use my prompts. But if your material is graphic, I'd rather not view it, and most of my readers will not wish to. 
3. Have fun! This type of exercise is perfect for growing in the writing craft, or for helping through a rough patch in your current WIP. If you're looking to push your author limits and you normally write in nonfiction prose, try a whimsical collection of lyrics. If you normally write poems about real life events, try your hand at a fanfic. Give yourself some room to explore.

Don't forget to leave a link to your creation (unless you're writing graphic material) so my readers and I can check out your work. I'd appreciate a link back to this post to help me reach more readers, but it's not required. 

Photo by Hatice Noğman

Don't forget to take a moment and view the photographer's lovely gallery on Pexels.com. I'd like to take a moment to thank Hatice for sharing such beautiful work with the world. I know it's inspired me!

Just Keep Writing: The Caretaker

This is a very short story, another snapshot with very little closure. I hope you enjoy it. Do you think I should continue this one? Would you like to know more about the people and the beasts? Let me know in the comments when you're done reading. 

Here are a few things you might find helpful before you read:

• Merma - (MAIR mah)
• Tai - (TIE)
• papukh - (pah POOKH) - [the kh is rough and breathy at the back of the throat] - a hide-bound, soft covered collection of linnel sheets for writing or drawing information
• La’wei’ia - (lah WAY yah) - one of the ancient beings (Iia [EE yah]) which maintain the balance on Y’Dahnndrya and are responsible for reminding the inhabitants of their world who created all that exists
• Fyrna - (FYIR nah)
• Tugansol - (too GAHN sole) - the Holy Breath, the Shinnoahn name for the Creator
• Hesp - roughly, a hand-span, used to measure both time (something like our hour) and shorter distances, length, width, and height
• Nainda - (NIGHN dǝ) a week on Y’Dahnndrya, nine days

Merma settled comfortably into her routine. It was hot in the caverns this dawning. But then, it was always hot. The la’wei’ia couldn’t survive in cooler temperatures. They made their home in the Fyrna Mountains. Legends said the landscape was the result of wide-spread conflagration during Great Cataclysm eons ago. The hot life-blood of Y’Dahnndrya still flowed through the canyons in mighty rivers and oozed down the mountainsides. 

When she’d first received the call of the Creator to attend to the needs of the la’wei’ia, Merma had struggled with the idea of leaving her seaside home. She wanted to be a good, obedient Child of Tugansol and be a blessing to all Y’Dahnndrya’s Children. But, she couldn’t imagine such a lonely existence. When she asked her local Senya more about the la’wei’ia and spoke of what Tugansol had whispered in her spirit, he helped her as much as he could, though his information was old and patchy.

In the end, he armed her with a rough map and a papukh. Those had helped her a little, but didn’t exactly get her to the place she needed to be. Nor did either of them tell her there was a small community of caretakers working to preserve the area for the la’wei’ia and make sure they continued to have what they needed to survive. 

The most surprising thing of all was that the beasts could communicate their thoughts to her. They had names, though those were difficult to pronounce in common tongue. Their own language had been out of reach for her. Rather, they explained the meaning of a name the best way they could and the caretakers pulled from their own languages to call specific la’wei’ia to attention. 

This group of Iia never left home. They did whatever it was the Creator had created them to do from where they lived. Merma remembered when she first saw their sinewy, spine-covered backs creating humps in the glowing, sticky, ooze. Strange plates of large scales covered the rest of their bodies and they had no eyes. Six pairs of short legs were set evenly down their bodies. Each of their single-toed feet had a vicious inward curving claw at the back of the ankle joint. The toe was rounded and hard, like a backward shovel, though it was thicker. No one had been able to tell her the purpose of such a claw in that position. The beasts themselves seemed so docile. 

Merma adjusted the shoulder strap of her hide vest which she wore atop a light-weight, short-sleeved tunic that just met her hips. On her face, over her nose and mouth, she wore a breather. It protected her from the intense fogs released by the flows. A pair of specially designed glashiin eye-shields protected her eyes. She also wore fitted hide breeches and heavy hide boots which protected her legs and feet. Her hair she cropped short, but it curled riotously all over her head. Sometimes, she mourned the loss of her longer hair and how she could style it in many ways. But taking care of this group of Iia gave her a sense of comfort and accomplishment that far outweighed anything she’d had to give up. 

“Merma!” The cry came from further up the mountainside on her right. She raised her eyes, scanning to see who was calling and why. “There you are. We’ve been looking everywhere for you.” 

Tai was a tall, broad, deep-red Genzetti. He always sounded aggrevated so there was no deciphering whether there was a reason for it. She’d stopped trying long ago. The suns glinted off the many piercings decorating his face, ears, and collar bone. Merma grimaced, but had to be honest. The piercings and his style fascinated her. He never wore a tunic in this hot environment, though on rare occasions, he did wear a hide vest. While that was disgraceful for a Shinnoahn like her, for a Genzetti, it seemed to be normal. 

Being able to learn of the different clans and how they lived and served the Creator had been a blessing she hadn’t expected. 

“What is it, Tai?” She called up, forgetting the breather would limit the range of her voice. She started toward him, carefully picking her way. One never knew where a flow would begin or if the rocks which looked solid actually were. 

“There’s been an incident. We need your expertise,” Tai reached her and she noticed he was breathing heavily. 

Nodding, she waved him back and said, “Lead on. I’ll follow.”

As they set a steady, cautious pace up the mountain, Merma varied the sights between watching Tai as he led the way and watching where she stepped. But her thoughts ran riot with the possible things she might encounter when they got back to the small village. 

It took the better part of three hesps, but they finally arrived in the village center. Immediately, Merma spotted the problem. An egg which would take both of Tai’s arms to carry it lay on the ground at the elder’s feet. She met the graying man’s bright aqua eyes, set deep in his darkly tanned face, brimming with questions. She was adept at speaking with the la’wei’ia, but this one wasn’t even hatched yet. What did they expect her to do? 

“Call them, Merma. The la’wei’ia must come for this young one,” the elder demanded.

She paled. “Can’t we bring it to them?”

“We’ve tried. Every time we get close, some unseen force repels our hands, leaving a vicious sting.” He shook his head with a wry grin. “It leaves no mark but it burns for a while.”

She couldn’t help it. Merma reached toward the smooth, dark gray egg shot through with red streaks. Nothing happened. She placed her hand closer. Still nothing happened. She looked up at the elder in question. 

He shrugged. “I can’t explain it. All I know is that a few of us tried to move it and when we did, we were stung. Mayhap it senses a closeness with you, the affinity you have with the adults.” 

Turning back to inspect the egg, she asked. “Tai, have you tried?”

She sensed, rather than saw him shake his head.

 

“Come on then. I can’t carry this. But you’re big enough and strong enough.” She finally swung her gaze up to meet his scowl. “You know it will hurt the la’wei’ia to come this far from the flows.” Placing her hand back on the egg, she frowned. “And I’m worried that the egg won’t be warm enough here.”

He sighed and lifted his eyes to the sky-dome. After a few moments had passed, he sighed again, a little more deeply. “I’ll try.” 

He reached out one hand toward the red-streaked, gray shell. Nothing happened when he finally rested his palm on it. Merma smiled broadly at him. “There now. We can get this to the right place.” Turning to face the elder, she asked, “How did it get here?”

“We don’t know. When we congregated in the prayer house, it wasn’t here. When we came out again, it was. There weren’t any strange sounds to alert us. We simply can’t explain it.” The elder shrugged his bony shoulders and shook his head, sending his whispy gray beard and hair flying.

Merma felt the heat of embarrassment flood her cheeks. She should have been with the others, devoting time to worshiping the Creator in prayer. She’d forgotten because the la’wei’ia were restless, had been restless for the past nainda. Their thoughts were chaotic and when she tried to disentangle the strands, her efforts only resulted in more knots. Still, she had been determined to keep trying. Their distress was her own. 

It would seem this egg might be the cause. Hopeful, she flashed a quick smile to both the elder and Tai. “Perhaps they’ll calm once they get their egg back,” she spoke as confidently as she could. It was time to do the work the Creator had called her to do.

So what do you think? Did you like the story? Was the word prompt helpful? I hope you enjoyed your visit to my scenic route today. Come back next week for another round of prompts, book reviews, and updates. I might even have another story ready to share with you. 

Until next time,
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