Mighty As Swords

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Soliloquy Sunday: A Quick Note

Soliloquy Sunday: A Quick Note

I have so much I could say. I have so much I maybe should say. So much has happened over the last few months, and of course I have thoughts on it all. So many, many thoughts and opinions and feelings. But the thing is, I get scared. I get worried that no one cares. The words are so clear and obvious in my head, and I picture myself sitting down in front of my computer and spilling them out. But…

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Lace

We were cut from the same cloth, you and I,

But I was made into a modest garment,

Often worn and quietly admired,

While you were fashioned into something better,

A spectacle,

Hung in a closet,

Too precious to handle

Except on special occasions.

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Ren Roams: Quito

As much as I loved Puerto Lopez, the time did eventually come to say goodbye. I boarded a bus one night, and when I woke up—well, I was still on the bus. In fact, to say I woke up isn’t totally accurate, because it suggests I got some sleep. It’s hard to sleep on a bus, especially one that plays violent movies for the first couple of hours and then salsa music for the rest of the night, while…

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Ren Roams: Puerto Lopez

In which Ren goes to the beach and makes friends with the local wildlife.

I love the beach. I love the ocean. I love the sound of the waves as they roll in and out. So it’s no wonder I fell in love with Puerto Lopez the moment I arrived. It’s a beautiful town, stretching out along the coast. There’s a malecon, a waterside walkway, bordering the beach. There are fishermen and their boats, seagulls and pelicans, and a beautiful array of shells. And there’s a picturesque…

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Ren Roams: Guayaquil

Greetings from Guayaquil!

Guayaquil is a great city. Part of me wishes I could have spent more time there—besides the two partial days at the end of my trip, before I fly home. There’s lots to see, all dotted with signs saying, “Guayaquil es mi destinacion.” For a long time, the city has been considered dangerous to visit, and I’ve seen guides stating that there isn’t much to do or see there. In recent years, however,…

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Ren Roams: The Layover From Hell

Ren Roams: The Layover From Hell

I have been a very charmed traveler throughout my life. I’ve had a few flight delays here and there, but nothing too drastic; I’ve been very lucky. Today, my luck ran out. I wasn’t even planning to talk about my layover. It was less than a day. I wasn’t going anywhere but the hotel and the airport, and I wasn’t doing anything but sleeping. And yet, somehow, I got a story to share. Let me back up…

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Ren Roams: Miami

Hello from Miami International Airport! My trip is off to a great start so far. I spent Saturday morning with my family—two of my brothers came over with their wives and kids to celebrate a belated family Christmas. (My oldest brother was still in North Carolina, but we got to FaceTime with him and his wife and daughter.) Then it was off to the airport for the first leg of my trip. There had been…

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Ren Roams: Planning for Ecuador

Ren Roams to Ecuador: It's been a long journey, and I haven't even left yet.

Those who know me, know I love to travel. When one of my friends found an amazing travel deal last April, she knew I’d want to hear about it. (Thank you, Katy!) The deal was a round-trip flight from Miami to Ecuador, with a one-day layover in Venezuela, for $99. One item on my bucket list is to travel to all seven continents, and I didn’t have a plan for South America yet, so this seemed like a…

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New Year, New Challenges

See what I'm up to this year: less writing, more running and reading.

So, I realize that we’re currently ten days into the “new” year. It’s pretty much an old year now, practically over. But I’m just getting around to recapping my writing challenge from the ancient days of 2016, because doing things in a timely manner was not one of my resolutions. If I get things done at all I consider it a success; it’s the little things. And hey, I did get something done last…

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The End

She held the stack of papers in her hands, feeling breathless. The weight of them reminded her that this moment was real. She had dreamed of it for so long that now she was half afraid she would wake up and find that she hadn’t even started writing yet. Or worse, that she had finished writing, but that the file had somehow been deleted. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, reminding herself of all of the backups she had made.

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Christmas Eve in Washington

Christmas Eve in Washington

Maureen gave a sigh as she faced the little tree. The decorations were cute, but they made her miss home even more. She stuck her hands in her pockets and moved on down the path, barely looking at the other little trees lined up along the sides. Each one had a sign saying which state or territory it represented. In the middle was one giant tree covered in lights, with a toy train running along a track below it. Maureen's mom had asked if she was putting up a tree at home, but with more than fifty trees within walking distance, Maureen hadn't seen a need.

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Soliloquy Sunday: The Sunny Center

Soliloquy Sunday: The Sunny Center

Last spring, I came across an exciting opportunity. A place in Ireland called the Sunny Center was looking for volunteers to help with their day to day operation. The young woman who was currently working with them talked about what she had been doing, and said how much she loved it. The Sunny Center is a unique place in the world. The founders, Sunny and Peter, have both spent time on Death Row…

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In The Beginning

The Parent and the Child had no names, because they did not need names. They were alone. They gave names to the stars, but for entertainment, not necessity. There were many, many stars to be named, but eventually they finished. Then the Child grew bored, because there was nothing left to name. The Child asked the Parent for a new toy. The Parent thought for a moment, then took pieces of the stars and other nearby materials, and formed them into balls. Some were as big as the Child's head, and others fit into the palm of its hands. The Parent called them planets. The Child called them by other names.

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Spoiler Alert

Bridget smiled at a passing customer as she made her way to the front of the store. When she saw who was waiting for her, though, she groaned, and then put her customer service face back on.

“Hello, Mr. Hollins, how are you today?” she asked, as brightly as she could manage.

“Just great, Bridget, just great,” he said, looking as smug as ever. “I've just come to place a pre-order for the next Great Awakenings book, and I thought I'd better go through you. New cashier and all, you understand.”

“Of course.” Bridget moved behind the counter. “Mona, why don't you go ahead and take a break?”

The cashier frowned. “But I just got back ten minutes ago.”

“Then, here, take some of these books and run them back to the shelves, alright?”

“Fine.” Mona grabbed the books to be reshelved and walked off, throwing a dirty glance over her shoulder.

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Welcome to Littleton

“Margo, why can't you just admit that we're lost?” Angela tapped her phone screen, wishing the map would load already. They had hit a weird dead zone a while back, and she still didn't have a strong enough signal to look up directions.

“Because we're not lost,” Margo insisted. “We're just having a little adventure.”

Angela scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Adventure. Right. And where are we having this adventure?”

“Wherever we are now.”

“And where is that?”

“I'm not entirely sure.”

“You know that's basically the definition of 'lost,' right?”

“Nonsense.” Margo pointed ahead of them. “Look, there's a gas station coming up. Would you feel better if we pulled over and asked for directions?”

“Much.”

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The Blizzard

Nina knelt on her bed, looking out the window at the stars. They dotted the sky like snowflakes waiting to fall. “Mommy, do you think it’ll snow before Christmas?”

Alicia opened her mouth to say she didn’t think it had ever snowed in Tampa, but her daughter didn’t need to hear that right now. Instead she said, “I don’t know, sweetheart. Maybe it will. Come on, get into bed now.” Nina lay down and let Alicia tuck her in. Alicia brushed some hair away from Nina’s forehead to make space for a kiss. “Sleep tight.”

“I love you, Mommy.”

“I love you, too, Nina.”

Nina waited a few seconds after hearing the door close, and opened one eye. Her room was dark, except for the nightlight casting a dim glow across the floor. She threw the covers off and got down on the floor, flattening onto her stomach so she could crawl under her bed. She pulled out a shoebox and sat in the middle of her room with it. Inside was a small snow globe and a sheet of paper. Nina picked up the snow globe, holding it towards the nightlight so she could see the scene inside it. There were a few tall buildings, though none as tall as the palm tree next to them. A bed of glitter lay on the bottom. Nina shook the globe, letting the glitter fly up and drift back down. Then she set the globe on the floor and picked up the paper, squinting to read the words on it. She wondered if the lady at the mall had been telling the truth.

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Angry Young Woman

Sonia slammed the door behind her and pulled her headphones out of her phone. The music blared into the room, drums pounding and voices shouting. She didn't even really like this band, but their music fit her mood. She listened to them constantly.

She threw her backpack to the floor and fell onto her bed, drumming on her pillow. Her head jerked in time with the music. The singer's voice was so growly that she couldn't make out the words, but she didn't need the words. She just needed the music.

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