Play or Adventure?

Bloganuary writing prompt
Do you play in your daily life? What says “playtime” to you?
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I am a big fan of video games. I have series that I tend to stick to: Legend of Zelda, Pokemon, Elder Scrolls, and Sonic the Hedgehog. I grew up with a lot of the games in these series. Playing these games was something I did with my brothers as kids, and I do in my free time as an adult. As a child, I would consider it play. However, reading this writing prompt got me thinking about when I sit down to turn on a video game. I don’t consider it playing anymore, but more so diving back into an adventure or living a story.

The story is my favorite part about a video game. I love to see how the lore is expanded with the characters I grew up with. How’s Link going to save the world this time? How will your morals be tested in Skyrim? What new pokemon and team am I going to build next? Are my favorite characters featured in the next Sonic the Hedgehog game? Am I going to get to learn more about them?

You could say playing a video game is similar to reading a book except it requires a little more action on your part. Reading a book, it sits on your lap and you follow the story with the characters. You could even skip ahead if you want to. Playing a video game, the characters don’t progress unless you help them. As kids, my older brother and I got stuck on a game called Sonic Adventure 2. We were in the final arc. Everything was building up to the end game. Yet, we couldn’t get past a certain level. Back then, you couldn’t look the answers up online. We ended up not finishing the game because we got tired of trying that one level over and over again. We never got to see the end of the story.

Eventually, I did look up the ending (our game disk wore out and became unplayable), but the experience was missed. Reading the ending and “living it” through the video game aren’t the same thing. You miss out on all the hard work you put into it with the characters. Sure, you can look up all the cutscenes online, but you still won’t get the whole story. You miss all the action and the adventure involved in the playthrough.

So, while “playing” video games speaks for itself. I like to look at the deeper, story component. That portal that takes you to a whole new world and adventure. Because, experiencing a story isn’t always play.

Reinvent to Green

Daily writing prompt
If you could un-invent something, what would it be?
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If I could un-invent something, it would be carbon emissions. I’d take the brightest minds in eco-friendly methods today and go back to the beginning of our folly. I’d teach our ancestors how to better set us up for the future. Teach them the importance of all life on the planet, how much we need it, and what happens when it goes away.

Wouldn’t it be something to be able to go back and inform our ancestors of the mistakes we stumbled into? To change the course of history for the betterment of our planet so we don’t have to watch it slowly perish? So we don’t have to worry about leaving a broken world for our children?

Yet, time machines don’t exist, and I wonder what it would say about us if we went back and stopped the mistake from happening instead of living with it and fixing it in the now? That’s the easy way out, isn’t it? Imagine everything we learned along the way that we would erase. What good things occurred because of the world turning to carbon emissions? As much as I’d love to eliminate carbon emissions and save all the extinct or going extinct species, I can’t. We can only improve today. It may seem bad. The world may be falling apart, but it’s not going to get better without us and there’s still time. There’s still plenty of time to un-invent now what we can’t all those years ago.

Mental Break

I need a break from the worry
Of always striving to to do my best
I need a break from decision making
Of putting my judgement to the test

I need a break from the fear
Of doing something wrong
It’s what paralyzes the most
Makes me the opposite of strong

Try to take a step away
But the problems follow you
A choice you made yesterday
Comes around to haunt you

You think you’re flying high
And something sneaks in
Hits you on your blindside
Knocks you on your rear end

So take a moment, or a day
To stop and catch your breath
From your troubles turn away
So they only see your back

Sometimes all it takes
Is to put your focus somewhere else
Give your troubles for a while
Help you cure yourself

Then time comes the daily grind
You’re having at it once more
Facing all the toils and troubles
On wings like eagles soar

Write it Out

Something bothers,
write it down
Something troubles,
write it out
Get it down upon the page
So no one can take the story away
A tale here
A rumor there
Keep a record so you remember
Write down all the frustrations
All the grief
And when the time comes for it to speak
The evidence is there
And in the light.
Therefore, no one can deny
Write down
Record the truth
Hearsay
Rumors
Stories that harm you
Keep a record so you remember
But always hope things will get better

Two Years Ago

I remember being scared. I remember thinking I made a mistake. Two Januarys ago, I turned down a job at an Equine Reproductive Center. They were willing to accept me just because I was willing to learn. I saw it as a great opportunity to get more into horses. To learn the veterinary care in equine breeding and be out on a ranch.

But, it was an hour away from home.

An hour drive on one of the most accident prone highways in the state, and in the middle of winter. They didn’t sugar coat the job. Ranch life is hard. You need the proper gear to withstand the frigid air. Yet, I tried to focus on the opportunity, and the pay was quite nice. Could this be the path meant for me in life? Go into equine. Be a vet tech ranch girl. Breed horses for people who have herds of their own?

I was excited about it on the hour drive home, but further contemplation brought turmoil all its own. Accept the job, training takes a whole year. Accept the job. Do I really want to be there? What is it I wanted out of this thing called life? I was miserable where I was at. Maybe this job is worth it’s strife?

I tried to envision life on the ranch. Hauling hay. Doing exams. Moving horses. Foals. Maybe having to stay the night if weather sucked or the job required it. If I had lived closer. It would’ve been more enticing, but my heart still dreamed of a chance in the spring.

I talked it over. Decided for myself. I didn’t want the job. I wanted to be somewhere else. So this great opportunity, I turned down flat. Hoping, I’d get what I could get back. It was relieving and terrifying, putting it all on faith. Yet, look what I’ve got now. I’ve got leopards, primates, and grace.

So, no matter where you are. Who knows what can happen in two years. Hold tight to your dreams. Don’t give in to fear. Be clear on what you want and hold that faith dear.

Character Anniversary

Way back in 2010, I started an online writing roleplay based off of a book series I used to read as a kid. The roleplay is still going on, but I take breaks from it every now and then. It’s how I improved a lot of my writing skills. Me and other members would have all our characters interact. We would plan out plots and decide how the story would go together. I learned a lot from it. Got some leadership skills from it too and online friends who don’t go away.

About a year or so after I started the roleplay, I created a special character. Her name was Northstar. She was my “main character” for the roleplay and we went through a lot together. She was brave, kind, and always stood up for what she loved. She faced every challenge with her head held high. She always wanted to be a mother, but never had kids of her own. So, she viewed the characters who followed her as her own children. She had a tragedy beginning of losing her family at a young age and the touch of destiny looming her shoulders. She fell in love once, but lost it pretty quickly. After that, she became independent, never sought out love again because she didn’t need it. She had her family of nonrelatives. Northstar became one of the greatest characters in the role play that even her enemies respected her.

And, on January 4th, 2019 I killed her.

Time progressed faster in the roleplay than it did in real life and, despite all that she went through, age was an enemy she could not defeat. She recognized her time was coming and paved the way for the next generation. As much as I loved, I honored her with a peaceful death. She died peacefully in the gently falling snow, surrounded by those she loved.

I wept.

For almost nine years, Northstar played a part in all the stories I wrote on that roleplay with my friends. Letting her go was harder than I thought. It makes me wonder how many characters out there have broken their author’s hearts when the author finally decides to kill them off and let them rest? I’m sure there’s some authors who don’t care, but we each have a character we hold close to our hearts. I can think of several in my novel, I’d cry for days if I ever become brave enough to give them a glorious death. Sometimes its in letting go that the story can finally move on.

So, here’s to the fifth anniversary of Northstar’s death. She didn’t reach a large audience, but she still made an impact.

Looking Ahead By Looking Back

It’s the end of 2023. We made it through another year, and there’s no telling what the next one will have in store. Back in college, I started keeping a daily planner. I write down what I do each day, include dreams, thoughts, and fears. You could call it a diary of sorts. In a few days, the one I currently write in will go on a shelf and I’ll pull out a new one. It’s my little “ceremony” to bring in the new year.

You could say my life is literally on a shelf.

Each year that passes by, I find myself more and more grateful that I started keeping a daily planner. It’s nice to be able to look back and remember what occurred each year or each specific day. All the good times and the bad. Time spent with friends and family. What happened at work. What we survived. Who helped me where and how I made a difference.

Each time I look back at my planners, I find a lot of moments where I was down in the dumps. Something made me cry and others wanted to make me give up. It makes me all the more grateful for where I am now. There’s a lot more happier things being written down in my planners and that gives me hope. Seeing where I came from and seeing where I am now gives me hope for the new year.

What adventures will I undertake? What lessons will I learn? Will dreams come true or at least get a little closer? Will something good unexpectedly happen? What about something bad?

Whatever the new year brings, I know I’m strong enough to take it. The reminders are right there on the shelf.

Wherever you are, I hope you’re facing the New Year with hope. Maybe take a look back at where you used to be and remind yourself you’re in a better place. Or, if you’re not in a better place, the New Year could bring you there. There’s always reason to hope. So, never give up.

Take a moment to look back, so you can look ahead with your head held high.

Dream of a Loyal Friend

Lately, I’ve been having weird dreams. Stressful ones. Fun filled ones. Ones that don’t even make sense. Yet, one dream I had was pretty adventurous and I’ll probably save it as a story idea. I wanted to share it with you.

I was at a college of sorts. There was a cafeteria, classrooms, high nosed teachers, the works. My brother was also there. He and I were walking to an event in the dark of the school parking lot. When suddenly, I got attacked by a figure cloaked in black. Thankfully, I was somehow able to beat the poor guy up before my brother even realized what happened. The guy scurried off and my brother and I continued to the event–it was a carnival of sorts. We were having fun, but somehow we got separated. I was approached by one of the high-nosed teachers. I got the sense the guy I beat up told his people what happened. The teacher had another student with him, a girl with dark hair in a ponytail.

Turns out, she had powers.

I quickly learned this high-nosed teacher was a part of a secret organization bent on controlling people with powers like the ponytailed girl. We had no choice but to go through a couple dangerous tests–or rather obstacle courses. I didn’t have any powers, but I guess beating up that cloaked guy in the parking lot proved I had potential.

At the end of one of the courses, we were given a three minute breather. The girl with powers fell to her knees and wept. She was upset she had powers. She hated how they made her so alone. Everyone only ever wanted to use her. Several others and I just watched her cry. I felt for her. I grabbed her to give her a hug and she wept on my shoulder. From that moment on, we were friends.

I’d definitely say our lives improved with our friendship. She was weird, under her powers. Very dorky and a bit socially awkward, but she had a spark that could embolden anyone. We did what we could to resist the secret society, but they soon realized she had a weakness. We got away from them once, but it didn’t last. We were captured and they told her to use her powers for their devices or I might end up losing a couple fingers and toes. For her sake, I helped the secret society to. We both did terrible things. We suffered together. The secret society started seeing value in my skills too. Until they realized I wasn’t retaining the evil ideals they were trying to teach–my act of rebellion. They learned it was better to keep me and my friend apart.

I learned what I could about this secret society. They weren’t a brute force organization. They liked mind games. They tricked people, and mind-controlled people. They come off as proper and honest, but are really cold, rotten villains at the core.

And, they believed in magic.

People can apparently have special abilities, so why not have magic and dimension hopping be a thing too?

I may have rebelled against one too many times, because the next thing I know, the high-nosed teacher who was my handler dropped me off in a canyon where they kept the dragons they captured from other dimensions. First it’s enslaving me and my friend and now it’s dragon-abuse?

My friend needed my help. They were probably going to try and put her through some painful experimental process of extracting her powers. I had no idea where she was, or even where I was. All I knew was that I had dragons to face–and hopefully free–and my friend to find. All without dying, of course.

It was only a dream. My friend and I didn’t know each other very long. She was actually pretty dangerous to be around. Her emotions triggered her powers and I still couldn’t peg down what she could do. She had some strange quirks and let’s face it, her social skills needed work. Everyone else who saw her weeping that day at the obstacle course looked away, but she needed a friend.
And so did I.

Missing Helper at Christmas

There’s something different this year
As I pull out the wrapping paper
There’s plenty of presents to wrap
And the tape’s somewhere behind my back

Yet, as I pull out the roll
There’s no paws to help me keep hold
The package is free from claws poking holes
No paper gets crinkled from pounces or rolls

When Christmas day comes,
she won’t be in my lap
Nor at our spot by the tree
Watching presents unwrapped with glee

Christmas will hit different
without the furbabies at home
No making them wear antlers
Or hugs to warm your bones

So, I’ll poke a hole in a package or two
All because I really miss you

You helping me wrap
Always made things worse
But you were a good cat
The best in the universe