Iron Bars ~ By: Tammy Holloway

Iron Bars

By: Tammy Holloway

 

                Day 1 –     Innocent bystanders started screaming as I pulled the gun out. “Get on the floor!” I yell as I pointed the gun at the clerk and demanded money from the register. I was scared and pumped full of adrenaline. This made for a dangerous combination. My mind is clear…Get as far away from this place as possible, and fast. I needed a car, but where to start? Ah, there’s a good place. My image was that of innocence. Women described me as tall, dark and handsome. I don’t know about all that but I am pretty average. Clean-cut and nicely dressed, I fit the stereotype image of someone people can trust. 

                I entered the lot and parked right by a 1999 cherry red Firebird. She sure is purdy. That car is mine. A slimy salesman came running out the door with a $2 grin on his face, ready to make a sale. I smiled and used my charm to win his trust. The conversation was short but effective. In minutes he handed me a set of keys and a temporary tag to give her a test drive. 

                I took back roads and headed out of town. I wasn’t sure where I was goin’ but it was far from here. I felt alive and free. The road belongs to me and I’m gonna take it as long as she’ll have me. A long stretch lies ahead and I revved the ol’ cherry red bird. It was time to see what she could do. No cars and a whole lot o’ pavement. Just what the doctor ordered! 75……85….”WOOOOOO! This feels great!” 95…..110! She was smooth as a baby’s bottom. The motor hummed a sweet love song in my ears as I pushed her to the limit. 140….150! …..Winding down I felt an emptiness in my stomach. The stretch was over and I was back to reality. “Maybe we can do this again sometime ol’ girl….Just maybe.”

                The sun set behind the mountain. The boost of adrenaline wore off and I was gettin’ kind o’ tired. This gas station had to be 100 years old. Perfect for someone like me just passin’ through. It was unlikely any story circled around about me yet. Things were slow in these parts. I wasn’t really worried about all that. I think I’ll sleep in the car for the night though…..

 to be continued

Have a sci-fi day everyone! ~ TLH

Aliens, Brains and Migraines

Aliens, Brains and Migraines

By: Tammy Holloway

                Cue the music…Theeeeere’s a pain in my brain and I call it a migraine but I think it’s an alien monster. With this pain in my brain I go hugely insane so I must get rid of this monster.

                I’m a writer. Yep, plain and simple. “Norf du spak! Norf du spak!” Oh yeah, before I forget, I have an alien in my brain and he pretty much decides everything. Norf du spak…that means “I’m your master”. I just go with it since there isn’t a whole lot I can do about him. It makes for interesting writing though I must say. I write science fiction and love the visions I get thanks to Al. Al isn’t very creative for a name but hey, I didn’t choose to have him in there.  I got tired of yelling “Shut up alien!” and “Stupid alien!” so I just shortened it. He seemed to like it because the first time I called him Al I got a nice gentle squeeze to the brain.

                Al hates most things so I generally live with a migraine almost every day at some point or another. Berkle smut almost always means a big one is coming so I make the most of my day with relaxation music and a hot bath.  Before I realized what berkle smut meant, I continued my day as normal. It wouldn’t matter if I was in the middle of writing a really great story, the pain would come with such intensity that I would have to put the pen down. I always hated trying to remember what I was going to write next and Al would laugh and access my memory bank with some really off the wall material. I don’t know how many times I started writing whole paragraphs before I realized what was going on. “Very funny Al!” I would say in a louder than normal tone. Wreek lum sten fo ler ler. Kimp san wen voc romp. Dok la.&*YOYIH NUUIY*YYYOUPIOJO.

                “AL!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stop it!” Anyway, it’s time to feed Al. I can forget about getting anything hfskslend…normal written until he is happy again.

Have a sci-fi day everyone! ~ TLH

The Old Schoolhouse Short Story- Redone the “Write” Way

I was given suggestions by other writers on how to improve this story. This is it in full version. Enjoy:-)

The Old Schoolhouse – rewritten

By: Tammy Holloway

 

    “Stop that Jared! I hate when you do that! This place is scary enough without all your jokes. Where’s Kaley? I know she’s hiding too. You two are made for each other.”

Surprised, Jared looked directly at Samantha. “What do you mean ‘where’s Kaley?’ She’s with you right? Please tell ma ma me she’s with ya ya you Sam.” Jared stuttered when he got real nervous.

“Ha! The jokes’ on you now Jared. Kaley’s getting better at it than you. She done left ya down here to get skeert with the rest of us.”

     It was September in this small town of Mineral Bluff, GA. It was comin’ a gully washer…as folks say ‘round here. That’s a down pour like nowhere I’d ever seen before. I can understand the reason for the strange lingo. It poured buckets on this lil’ town. Jared, Kaley and Samantha were best buds. Jared and Kaley were boyfriend and girlfriend but didn’t seem to mind Sam following along from time to time. Sam didn’t mind it either. Jared was 16 and had two things the girls liked; a license and an old beat up car that took them away from home and off on adventures.

     Tonight was the same as many nights. Find an old building, explore, and scare the crap out of each other. There are so many stories goin’ ‘round about this place. Outsiders come and try to snoop around and find nothing but the occasional shotgun in their face, cocked and ready to shoot. Why we’re famous all over the internet with ghost stories and witch sighting and such.

     The old schoolhouse was new territory. The witch graveyard, the haunted church and the abandoned orphanage were old hat. The same routine was in place. Jared stayed in the back in case someone came at them from behind. He figured these places were good hideouts for druggies or homeless folks. Sam was always in front because she loved this stuff and feared nothing and Kaley stayed in the middle. She was afraid of everything.

     It was unlike Kaley to run off and play the scarin’ game. I understood completely. Heck I can’t remember any time where Kaley was trying to be bold. She was a screamer. I guess that’s the good news. No screams have been heard from her. Jared grabbed a hold of Sam’s arm and headed back the way they came in. He carefully shined the flashlight in each crevice and corner he could find. The paint was chipped off in a lot of places. It smelled like ten-year old rain and rotten concrete. A room led back around to the right. They didn’t go in there yet so maybe Kaley was a hidin’ in there. Jared felt a jolt on his arm. Sam jumped back and caught her breath. The hairs stood up on the back of her neck. In a small whisper Sam said; “what in tar nation is that thing hangin’ from the ceiling Jared?”

…They slowly backed away. Jared, shaking, raised the flashlight to see what it was. Shadowy monsters began to crawl down the walls as the light beamed off of the old school desks. The light went higher and gleaming walls dripped with moisture as the rain seeped through the cracks in the old structure. Even higher still….suddenly, Jared dropped the flashlight and ran! “Wait!” Sam yelled for Jared and chased him all the way to the car.

     “What are you guys doing?” Kaley said in her “whatever” voice. Jared was surprised but happy to see her. He was too concerned about getting the heck out of there then to take notice of her sarcasm/motherly talk.

     As they drove away, Kaley asked again what was going on.

“I ss ss saw something in th the there.”

“Wow! You never stutter anymore Jared. What did you see?”

Jared tried to gather his thoughts to try to explain what he saw. “There wa wa was a pa pa pair of sh sh shoe shoes on th th the  ssss ssss sssseil ceiling…aa aaa aannnd a a……”

Sam lost patience with Jared; “Oh nevermind! Let’s go back. I didn’t see anything too strange Jared. Besides curiosity killed the cat..not the human. I want to know for sure. It was probably just an old pair of shoes hangin’ there with some junk thrown in Jared. You know people always feel the need to throw stuff and try to get it stuck.” Sam reassured him.

“No way!” Kaley scolded. “I did not want to be there in the first place. Why do you think I came back to the car? Let’s go home Jared, please?”

O o o kay K K Kaley. I na na need to dr dry off anyway. Ma ma my clothes are ss ssoaked.”

     It was well after curfew. Anyone out now had cool parents or parents that just didn’t care much where they were as long as they were out of their hair. Jared and Sam’s parents were the cool ones. Well, Sam’s parents were divorced and she stayed with her mom full-time. Sam’s mother knew she was safe with Jared and Jared’s parents knew Sam would keep him out of trouble. Parents – so naive.   Kaley had the ‘other’ type of parents. She never spoke of ‘em much but it was understood. Unexplained bruises would show up now and again and Jared would ask if she was okay and if he needed to take care of something for her. Kaley would just smirk at him and respond with “Nothin’s wrong”. He always hated takin’ her home.

     Friends of theirs gathered at the local hangout but it was still comin’ a turd flutter. That there’s another one of them slang words for heavy rain. Everyone sat in their cars and played with the radio. Not but 2 stations comes in ‘round here though. Most have iPods or some other form of device that holds a crap ton of music.

Sam decided to open her big mouth. Something she was quite good at. “Jared saw something up at the ol’ schoolhouse.” That was all she needed to say.

     The testosterone flowed freely amongst the young teenage boys. They challenged each others’ fears and then it was decided. Nothing to do but visit some old rundown schoolhouse and teen testosterone loaded guns makes for a bad combination. Sam knew this and her plan worked. Kaley’s arguments were no match for all that and she sure wasn’t going home to deal with what was waiting for her there. Anything was better than home; Even some scary thing hangin’ from the ceiling of an old schoolhouse.

     As they pulled up to the old schoolhouse again, the lights cut through the rain. Heavy drops of shimmering light fell slanted from the sky in front of them. They could barely make out the building. Mud splashed and splattered the windows of that old beat up car of Jared’s.     

Kaley took in a heavy breath “Who’s that?” She pointed toward the back-end of the building. Neither of the other two saw it.

“Maybe you should stay in the car.” Jared told her. “I know you hate this stuff but I also know you love it in some twisted kind a way. Let me and Sam go in and we’ll come back and git ya when the coast is clear.”

     Three other cars pulled up alongside Jared’s. It was Tina and Colton in one car, Heather and Brice in another and some other people she didn’t know. She knew their faces from school, but no names.

     Kaley’s view from the car was nothing but a sea of flashlights and rain coats runnin’ for the entrance. Her heart started pounded as the lights faded away. The sounds of laughter and chatter faded also. She was all alone in the dark…again.

     Kaley opened her eyes and looked around. The rain stopped and the night was still. There was no sign of anyone yet. She looked at the phone! “It’s three in the morning!” She hit 1 on speed dial to try to call Jared. It was the perfect set up for a scary movie out here. Her phone read “No service”. Living in the mountains, it tends to be touch and go with service. She figured they had to be in there for more than 3 hours. It wasn’t that big of a schoolhouse.

     Something hit the roof of the car. Kaley froze in place. Her heart was now in her throat. “Jared! This is not funny! Stop playing around!” A steady drip came from above. What was it? She knew she had an active imagination and figured she was just comin’ up with her own crazy thoughts. As she settled down, she grabbed her flashlight and began to look around outside of the car. A shadow came down over the front of the car as she looked high up through the windshield. It was a branch. Relieved, she reached for the door handle. As she went to pull on it, she looked out and saw lights coming. “Finally!” They all stopped at the doorway, looking at Kaley; looking at the car. They were looking….up.

     Kaley jumped out of the car and ran towards Jared. He backed away as she approached. “What’s going on Jared? What took you guys so long? Quit jokin’ around. Let’s go home.” Just then Kaley turned her focus on the car. It was hovering just above it. The shadow was dark and menacing. Something was dripping from its mouth. It was blood.

     It shot back into the night and disappeared. The teenagers ran in separate directions. “Where’s Sam?” Kaley screamed out and didn’t get an answer. Everyone kept their distance from Kaley. “What is going on? What is that thing?” Kaley ran as fast as she could to get as far away from it as she could.

Jared kept a close eye on her but from a distance. “Why did you g g go ba ba back to th th th the car Kaley?”

Go back? she thought. “I Never came in Jared! Why are you avoiding me? What happened in here? What is that thing out there hovering over your car?”

     Jared slowly approached Kaley. “Y y you na na never ccc cccame in?”

“No Jared, I fell asleep in the car and woke up just before I saw all of you come out. I heard a crash on top of the car and saw it was a branch…or so I thought.”

Listen K K Kaley, you were with us almost the whole time. Y y you have to believe ma ma me.” Just then, Sam came running up.

Kaley let out a sigh of relief; “Sam! Thank goodness you are alright!”

“No thanks to you Kaley. What were you thinking anyway? You just better be glad you’re my friend or I’d have to give you a good wallop on the head.”

Jared broke them up; “She dada doesn’t remememember being in here Sss sa ss Sam.”

“What? That’s crazy! Of course she remembers. Don’t you Kaley?”

Kaley looked at Sam, puzzled and shrugged her shoulders. “I was asleep in the car the whole time.”

     A noise came from the darkness. They held hands and faced the source of the sound. Each of them raised their flashlights at the same time. The sizzling sounds of water hitting a hot surface filled the air. Steam came from the shadowy figure. It was in pain. In an instant, it was gone. The creature feared the light so they now knew they could get away. They had to get out of there.

     Jared called out for the rest of the crew. “Ba Ba Brice! He Heather! Ddd Dd Da Devon! Ch Chase!” No answer. They had to go look for them since they were the ones to get them to come. Well, Sam was the one but Jared drove so he felt an obligation to make sure they were alright. They stayed close together as they searched the small rooms in the schoolhouse; each room scarier than the last. The shadows crept as they walked slowly along the back wall. The ground was flooded from the heavy rain that just passed. The sound of splashing footsteps was the only thing they could hear.

     Something moved in the back of the room. It was hiding behind some old furniture. They stopped and held their flashlights on it. None of them wanted to move for fear it would come where light didn’t shine. It slowly rose from behind the furniture and stood there. 

“Jared? Is that you buddy?” Brice and the others came out from hiding. “Boy are we glad to see you guys. It’s afraid of light you know.”

“Yeah, we figured that out too.” Kaley spoke but the others hesitated in listening to her words. “Let’s get out of here.” She continued.

They all kept close together along the wall with flashlights shining at the darkness. As they moved toward the doorway, they came upon the room where Jared saw something the first time they went in.

“Watch my back.” Sam said and started her way into that room.

“Ss Sa Sam! Wh wh what are y y you doing?” Jared was in a panic.

Her flashlight rose up to the ceiling where the shoes had been. Jared fell to his knees and began to vomit. The others followed suit. Sam screamed, “NOOO!” Kaley was dead. Her crumpled body was full of blood and entrails drooped toward the ground with a shimmering wetness. That thing killed Kaley. Our friend was gone.

     They stood in shock until they heard a loud crash from the back of the room. Their feet began to move before they knew what was happening. They had to get out of that place and fast. Things were happening that they couldn’t explain and there was something lurking in the darkness that was evil. They made a run for it. The cars were running and tired were spinning before the car doors were all shut. Jared and Sam were numb with silence.

     …From the back seat; “What’s going on Jared? What took you guys so long?”

THE END

Imaginary Friends are All “Write”

Imaginary Friend

By: Tammy Holloway

Robot Sam Liked Monster Jam.

He hid in my pocket all day.

I played with him at night when I got real scared and he stood six feet tall in my bedroom.

He had robot arms with funny looking hands and he had one wooden eye cause he lost it.

He said he blew up and he stood by a tree so he grabbed up some wood and he made it.

His body was square with wiry hair. It was fun in the dark cause it glowed.

We played hide and seek and I always found him cause he gave himself up with his light.

The sounds were like “beep” and “buzz buzz” or “bleep bleep”.

He talked all the time but he sounded the same. Even his laugh was so plain.

Robot Sam was my friend and I’ll love him to the end.

Time for bed cause it’s Friday and then it will be Saturday.

That means time for another Monster Jam with Sam!

Good night.

 

Have a sci-fi day everyone! ~ TLH

Can You Leave Us Breathless? Blogfest Contest Entry

     

      Section from The Old Schoolhouse

By: Tammy Holloway

      Jared slowly approached Kaley. “Y y you na na never ccc cccame in?” “No Jared, I fell asleep in the car and woke up just before I saw you come out. I heard a noise and decided to join you.” Listen K K Kaley, you were with us almost the whole time. Y y you have to believe ma ma me.” Just then, Sam came running up. “Sam! Thank goodness you are alright!” “No thanks to you Kaley. What were you thinking anyway? You just better be glad you’re my friend or I’d have to give you a good wallop on the head.” Jared broke them up; “She dada doesn’t remememember being in here Sss sa ss Sam.” “What? That’s crazy! Of course she remembers. Don’t you Kaley?” Kaley looked at Sam, puzzled and shrugged her shoulders. “I was asleep in the car the whole time.”

      Jared decided it was best they make their way to the exit. Sam stumbled upon the room where Jared swore he saw something earlier. “Watch my back;” Sam said and started her way into the room. “Ss Sa Sam! Wh wh what are y y you doing?”Her flashlight slowly rose up to the ceiling. Jared fell to his knees and began to vomit. Sam screamed, “NOOO!” Kaley was dead. There was a gripping fear that surrounded them as they stood in shock over what they saw. A loud crash came from inside the building and they snapped out of it.

     Puzzled and ill over what they just witnessed, Sam and Jared faced the reality that they had to get out of that place and fast. Things were happening that they couldn’t explain and it was definitely evil. They made a run for it. Jared and Sam jumped in the car.

 …From the back seat; “What’s going on Jared? What took you guys so long?”

The “Write”chus Blogger Award!

right·eous – Adjective/ˈrīCHəs/ – Morally right or justifiable; virtuous. Perfectly wonderful; fine and genuine

That’s a good word to describe this prestigious award that I found out I was nominated for. Thanks to a group of wonderful bloggers, this award came to be and people like you and me get recognition for all of our hard work;-) Never in a million years did I intend to receive such high recognition, yet Kimberly of Kimberly Inspired felt I deserved it. How wonderful to think I made someone feel that good to nominate me! I inspired the inspirer! How cool is that?

Just type Versatile Blogger Award in your google bar and hit search. There are countless numbers of bloggers being recognized across the internet and the comments are all so positive and happy! What a great way to show other bloggers just how wonderful their stories, poems, life, photos, art, etc. actually are!!

The Rules of the Versatile Blogger Award:

1.  Thank the person(s) who shared the award with you by linking back to them in your post. 

2.  Pass this award to 15 recently discovered blogs and let them know that you included them in your blog post. 

3.  List 7 things about yourself. 

Now for my part in this endeavour:

#1 – Great big hugs to Kimberly Inspired for nominating me for this award! How wonderful to find out how much someone appreciates my blog! Thanks Kimberly!!

#2 – This was the hard part. I did not take this award lightly. I wanted to make it as special as Kimberly did for me. That meant I had to sacrifice some of my writing time and homework time to get it done.  After researching the award on the internet and finding out just how many people were honored by receiving it, I knew I couldn’t just put together some half-hearted list. After 2 days and several hours of research and reading blog after blog, these were my picks for this award:

http://kimberlyinspired.wordpress.com/ Yeah sure, this is the blog that nominated me, but she too has something to say that should be recognized. Her happiness gleams through her posts which pours over into the world of bloggers. I love reading about how happy someone is and her blog should not go unnoticed. She is amazing. She also loves photography and is very good at it. Pictured above is one of her beautiful shots.

http://laughteriscatching.com/   Aka: Tinkerbell I am impressed when I read her blogs. She is young, smart and to the point. Great blog!

http://astoryeveryday.com/ This blog shares our work, if we so choose. They have a great amount of followers that read these stories and it is a wonderful way to share a variety of stories to the public.

http://belchdini.wordpress.com/ Aka: Stabs in the Dark A great blog for reviewing horror with a side of humor. Love it!

http://mdweigand.wordpress.com/ Aka: Tales of a Fairy Lantern  His stories and poetry and absolutely wonderful. Every word draws you in more and more.

http://www.homesteadersheart.blogspot.com/  What can I say, this blog inspired me to start blogging a couple of years ago. She is sweet, funny and makes you feel the comfort and laughter that is shared in her own home. Her latest challenge….to join her in giving up the one thing we all love so much….SUGAR:-)

http://riverunderwater.wordpress.com/ Aka: Colleen Ponce The art work on this blog has to be seen not described. Stunning! I love horses and this drawing touched my soul.

http://diaryoflifeloveandme.wordpress.com/  I just love this blog. She shares her every day through a diary. Very cool!

http://nmichaelhawe.wordpress.com/ Aka: The Realms Between  From beautifully written stories and hand crafted metal sculpting to sharing recipes on how to brew root beer…This blog is a must see!

http://whileitwasfallingapart.wordpress.com/ What can I say, her blog brought back some wonderful memories for me. She also reminds me of myself and how I fell into writing. Oh how I hated those term papers:-) One of her latest posts made me smile – “Carrot Love”

http://suehealy.wordpress.com/ She helps writers! That’s right…She has some really awesome information on her blog to help us out from competition websites to making her own “write a novel in 6 months” competition. The contest started October 1^st but I am sure she would let you in on it!

http://bardicblogger.wordpress.com/  Yet another helpful blog for writers. This blog is incredibly informative and I strongly recommend visiting it.

http://brenleedrake.blogspot.com/  Her site offers writers a chance to win a contest! It is from October 21-23 and all you have to do is visit her site, read the requirements and sign up! Too cool! Thanks Brenda:-)

http://ronsrants.wordpress.com/  Survivor of a lightning strike, his sadness of life with illness and his fight with COPD brought tears to my eyes as I read some of his experiences with depression and encroachment on an unknown fate. His blog deserves recognition as he brings to light some of the “real-life” trauma from all of his medical conditions.  

http://neekswrite.wordpress.com/ Monique has a very clever way of writing, which she picked up from the movie “Out of Africa”. She has bloggers give her 3 random words, then writes a story with those 3 words in it. She gets quite a response from it and I love the stories she makes from the words! Great blog!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF YOU! YOUR BLOGS ARE CHANGING THE WORLD:-)

#3 – Now it’s my turn

Hmm, 7 things about me…. If you really want to know:

FEW – A FEW…things about me

Family – Education – Writing – Adventures – Fun – Emotions – Working

Family:

“A”- number-one in my book! I love my husband with every inch of my being and we share a special bond. Nothing pleases me more than putting a smile on his face every day. He lights up a room with his beautiful personality and I am one lucky woman to have him in my life.  

Buster is one of three dogs we have. He is 12 years old and still going strong. He has been a great dog through the years and we take the best care to cater to his elderly status. His fame brought him more friends than either of us lol! His silly tail trick landed him a space on The Planet’s Funniest Animals and managed to win $100 and an exclusive T-Shirt.

Daisy was a second edition and turned out to be a very compassionate, loving, nurturing dog. You wouldn’t know it if you pulled up in our driveway though. She sounds like she is going to eat your face off. However, that said, at six months of age, she helped us raise two baby groundhogs we found stranded on the side of the road. They were successfully released into the wild which was sad but rewarding all at the same time. We bought her because of my depression after four miscarriage and our plans were to breed her in the future.

Rush is the newest edition and the smartest of the bunch! Border Collies are typically smart dogs anyway, but Rush tops them all. He amazes us with the amount of words and sentences he can understand at less than 6 months old. He is also very agile with strong herding instincts. He crouches and waits for Daisy as she runs back and forth in the yard and it is quite the attraction lol! In the evenings, Nathan kicks the soccer ball high in the air for the dogs. It only took a couple of turns before Rush figured out where the ball went and actually looks up for it to return. Buster and Daisy never really picked that up for some reason. The ball would just land and they ran for it. Rush jumps high in the air to catch the ball and usually falls short or jumps way too high and that is hilarious to see! He is our stud dog for Daisy. I think we will wait a couple of years for breeding though. It is a lot of work and time. Just having them all around us is a great feeling. We love our four-legged kids.

 

Education:

Important, necessary and I feel very accomplished with a Bachelor’s Degree on my wall and a certificate showing I graduated with honors (Magna Cum Laude). I always wondered what that meant. Now I am proud to know and have the honor written on my degree.

I am well into my Master’s Degree now and keep pushing forward. The classes are much harder but understandably. It is my master’s after all. I am studying Accounting of all things. I actually love math and enjoyed tutoring for several years. I like to work numbers and have a meticulous way of doing things. Accounting is much more than numbers though but it makes the idea even more challenging. I just hope to become the best CPA I can be!

Writing:

This has to be third on the list for obvious reasons. I have to put my education first in order to get the grades required in the master’s program. They are much higher than undergraduate studies.

I love to write. When I was in high school, I wrote poetry and did not realize it was an outlet for me then. I loved to draw and paint with oil also. I must have painted dozens of pictures. One picture made 2^nd place at the fair. I painted a picture of Hank Williams Jr. lol! I guess they thought it was good enough to place.

I now write with all of my physical and mental self. I write as if the whole world is reading, but I write without thoughts of what will make me money or not. I just…write. I do have a novel well underway and that is what got me started on this blog. I knew I needed improving before I could finish The Deep Freeze and I wanted it to be my absolute best before finishing and publishing it. I have since attended several writers workshops, joined a writers association and chamber of commerce, and try to write something every day (pending homework of course). I entered two writing contests and placed in the top ten of one. My piece “About My Mother” is published on Amazon! I was so excited about that. I realize how important it is to build a platform as a writer so I was off to a good start! I now have a second story submitted in a contest. I will hear the results one way or another by the end of this month (October).

Adventures:

This one is best left to pictures, so here are a few…..

 

Fun:

Nathan and I are always goofing off, wrestling, chasing each other or the dogs and creating affordable ways to have a good time. Last year, we had a good snow and couldn’t leave for a week. We made a seven-foot snowman and sled down the driveway on huge trash bags….seriously. We’re nuts! Two peas in a pod. Anyway, the list goes on and on and would be wayyyy too long to write so instead I will share a few of our funny pictures with you.

Emotions:

Boy do I ever have them! My feelings (no pun intended) on the matter are simple. They make me who I am! If I went to a shrink there is no doubt in my mind they would diagnose depression but duh! Of course I have some sad moments in life. Who doesn’t? I suffered loss and so have many other people in the world. At my worst, I went through mourning over the loss of my spouse at the time. It was sudden (car accident) and I was immediately traumatized to such an extent I had to make myself live. I didn’t want to eat, I didn’t want to move…heck I didn’t want to breathe! I took something for about a week and it just numbed me. I didn’t feel like myself. I couldn’t shed a tear…which I normally do on command. I decided to do my own therapy. Whether that was the right thing to do, I don’t know, but I wasn’t taking zombie pills anymore, that’s for sure! I watched comedy and laughed and laughed all day long. I must have seen Dumb and Dumber a thousand times! I love that movie. Every so often I would take every picture out, watch the wedding video and cry so loud people could hear me in other countries. Buster was always right there by my side licking my tears away.

Through determination, I managed to come out of the slump and push forward with my favorite metaphor – A bulldozer. I now have Nathan in my life and we cherish everything about our relationship. Our time together is well spent and our friendship is incredible. I still have bouts of depression and he is always right there by my side. That comfort gets me through anything every time. I guess I could say he drives my bulldozer!

I am empathetic and genuinely “feel” for others when I find out about their pain. I have to be careful with it because I get too caught up and have to refocus on myself. I truly want to change the world and make it a better place. I want others to have happiness and comfort as well. My “giving” personality made some people take advantage and I have to pick and choose the direction I take now. I do not regret the countless places I volunteered at though. They are a part of my life….my adventures…and they fill the part of me that yearns to be filled…..to give of myself without asking for anything in return.

Working:

Every once in a while, I get the chance to help my husband put up garage doors. It is our dream come true. We enjoy every waking minute together and had hoped to run a business for ourselves one day but for now, this works! About once a week or more, Nathan comes home with the work truck and we make an evening of putting up garage doors and openers. It sounds boring but, believe me, far from it. I’ve learned so much that a lot of the grunt work is left to me while Nathan magically puts together a working garage door. It feels great for me to be able to help and we get to spend that much more time together. It is uninterrupted, quality time. Nathan is very good with his hands. He has experience in construction from building a house from the ground up to rock-work. Every now and then he is requested to do a side job (usually family) and we also go together on those jobs. His sister has a farm and once in a while we help out. It has been fun learning about farming. We’ve loaded hundreds of bales of hay, planted thousands (yes thousands) of collards and cut and loaded them when they were ready, chased down calves and herded cows. We really enjoy helping them out.

Re-roofing the Farm House after a Bad Hail Storm

Planting Collards

 

 

Other than that, I stay home for the most part. I take care of the home and the dogs while spending as much time as I can on homework. From time to time, I travel to thrift stores and try to save us money wherever possible.

Well, that wraps things up for the Versatile Blogger Award requirements folks! I hope you enjoyed the ride! Again I would like to thank Kimberly for my nomination! You truly inspired me to pass on this prestigious award:-)

 

“The keys on your keyboard are the controls to your bulldozer. Take the keys and drive until you are finished. Everything else will kindly move out of your way or be forced to become a part of your path to success.”

Tammy Holloway

 

“Dozer” 

Have a sci-fi day everyone! TLH

I’m Not “Write” in the Head – The Old Schoolhouse (Short story)

The Old Schoolhouse is my submission in the “Scare the Dickens Out of Us” contest held every year for Halloween. The contest ended on the first of October so I can now share the story with all of you…..I hope you enjoy it….and I hope I win;-)

The schoolhouse actually exists. I’ve been there at night with friends a long time ago. The picture above is not the actual school. I had to find a picture as close as I could get since I do not have one of the real school (which is even creepier). On one of my many visits to Georgia (before I finally moved here), we decided to explore some old buildings. Why? I don’t know but it was fun and harmless. There isn’t much to do around these parts so we make stuff up for excitement. The story is real in the sense that there is nothing to do around here and there are several reports of hauntings, witches and demons in many areas of this county. In that case, I guess I could say this story is “based on true events”;-)

 

The Old Schoolhouse – by Tammy Holloway

    “Stop that Jared! I hate when you do that! This place is scary enough without all your jokes. Where’s Kaley? I know she’s hiding too. You two are made for each other.” Surprised, Jared looked directly at Samantha. “What do you mean ‘where’s Kaley?’ She’s with you right? Please tell ma ma me she’s with ya ya you Sam.”

     Jared stuttered when he got real nervous. “Ha! The jokes’ on you now Jared. Kaley’s getting better at it than you. “She done left ya down here to get skeert with the rest of us.”

     It was September in this small town of Mineral Bluff, GA. It was comin’ a gully washer…as folks say ‘round here. That’s a down pour like nowhere I’d ever seen before. I can understand the reason for the strange lingo. It poured buckets on this lil’ town. Jared, Kaley and Samantha were best buds. Jared and Kaley were boyfriend and girlfriend but didn’t seem to mind Sam following along from time to time. Sam didn’t mind it either. Jared was 16 and had two things the girls liked; a license and an old beat up car that took them away from home and off on adventures.

     Tonight was the same as many nights. Find an old building, explore, and scare the crap out of each other. There are so many stories goin’ ‘round about this place. Outsiders come and try to snoop around and find nothing but the occasional shotgun in their face, cocked and ready to shoot. Why we’re famous all over the internet with ghost stories and witch sighting and such.

     The old schoolhouse was new territory. The witch graveyard, the haunted church and the abandoned orphanage were old hat. The same routine was in place. Jared stayed in the back in case someone came at them from behind. He figured these places were good hideouts for druggies or homeless folks. Sam was always in front because she loved this stuff and feared nothing and Kaley stayed in the middle. She was afraid of everything.

     It was unlike Kaley to run off and play the scarin’ game. I understood completely. Heck I can’t remember any time where Kaley was trying to be bold. She was a screamer. I guess that’s the good news. No screams have been heard from her. Jared grabbed a hold of Sam’s arm and headed back the way they came in. He carefully shined the flashlight in each crevice and corner he could find. The paint was chipped off in a lot of places. It smelled like ten year old rain and rotten concrete. A room led back around to the right. They didn’t go in there yet so maybe Kaley was a hidin’ in there. Jared felt a jolt on his arm. Sam jumped back and caught her breath. The hairs stood up on the back of her neck. In a small whisper Sam said; “what in tar nation is that thing hangin’ from the ceiling Jared?”

…They slowly backed away. Jared, shaking, raised the flashlight to see what it was. Shadowy monsters began to crawl down the walls as the light beamed off of the old school desks. The light went higher and gleaming walls dripped with moisture as the rain seeped through the cracks in the old structure. Even higher still….suddenly, Jared dropped the flashlight and ran! “Wait!” Sam yelled for Jared and chased him all the way to the car.

     “What are you guys doing?” Kaley said in her “whatever” voice. Jared was surprised but happy to see her. He was too concerned about getting the heck out of there then to take notice of her sarcasm/motherly talk.

     As they drove away, Kaley asked again what was going on. “I ss ss saw something in th the there.” “Wow! You never stutter anymore Jared. What did you see?” Jared tried to gather his thoughts to try and explain what he saw. “There wa wa was a pa pa pair of sh sh shoe shoes on th th the  ssss ssss sssseil ceiling…aa aaa aannnd a a……” Sam lost patience with Jared; “Oh nevermind! Let’s go back. I didn’t see anything too strange Jared. Besides curiosity killed the cat..not the human. I want to know for sure. It was probably just an old pair of shoes hangin’ there with some junk thrown in Jared. You know people always feel the need to throw stuff and try to get it stuck.” Sam reassured him. “No way!” Kaley scolded. “I did not want to be there in the first place. Why do you think I came back to the car? Let’s go home Jared, please?” O o o kay K K Kaley. I na na need to dr dry off anyway. Ma ma my clothes are ss ssoaked.”

     It was well after curfew. Anyone out now had cool parents or parents that just didn’t care much where they were as long as they were out of their hair. Jared and Sam’s parents were the cool ones. Well, Sam’s parents were divorced and she stayed with her mom full-time. Sam’s mother knew she was safe with Jared and Jared’s parents knew Sam would keep him out of trouble. Parents – so naive.   Kaley had the “other” type of parents. She never spoke of ‘em much but it was understood. Unexplained bruises would show up now and again and Jared would ask if she was okay and if he needed to take care of something for her. Kaley would just smirk at him and respond with “Nothin’s wrong”. He always hated takin’ her home.

     Friends of theirs gathered at the local hangout but it was still comin’ a turd flutter. That there’s another one of them slang words for heavy rain. Everyone sat in their cars and played with the radio. Not but 2 stations comes in ‘round here though. Most have iPods or some other form of device that holds a crap ton of music. Sam decided to open her big mouth. Something she was quite good at. “Jared saw something up at the ol’ schoolhouse.” That was all she needed to say.

     The testosterone flowed freely amongst the young teenage boys. They challenged each others’ fears and then it was decided. Nothing to do but visit some old rundown schoolhouse and teen testosterone loaded guns makes for a bad combination. Sam knew this and her plan worked. Kaley’s arguments were no match for all that and she sure wasn’t going home to deal with what was waiting for her there. Anything was better than home; Even some scary thing hangin’ from the ceiling of an old schoolhouse.

     As they pulled up to the old school house again, the lights cut through the rain. Heavy drops of shimmering light fell slanted from the sky in front of them. They could barely make out the building. Mud splashed and splattered the windows of that old beat up car of Jared’s.      Kaley took in a heavy breath “Who’s that?” She pointed toward the back end of the building. Neither of the other two saw it. “Maybe you should stay in the car.” Jared told her. “I know you hate this stuff but I also know you love it in some twisted kind a way. Let me and Sam go in and we’ll come back and git ya when the coast is clear.”

     Three other cars pulled up alongside Jared’s. It was Tina and Colton in one car, Heather and Brice in another and some other people she didn’t know. She knew their faces from school, but no names.

     Kaley’s view from the car was nothing but a sea of flashlights and raincoats runnin’ for the entrance. Her heart started pounded as the lights faded away. The sounds of laughter and chatter faded also. She was all alone in the dark…again.

     Kaley opened her eyes and looked around. The rain stopped and the night was still. There was no sign of anyone yet. She looked at the phone! “It’s three in the morning!” She hit 1 on speed dial to try and call Jared. It was the perfect set up for a scary movie out here. Her phone said “No service”. Living in the mountains, it tends to be touch and go with service. She figured they had to be in there for more than 3 hours. It wasn’t that big of a school house.

     Something hit the roof of the car. Kaley froze in place. Her heart was now in her throat. “Jared! This is not funny! Stop playing around!” A steady drip came from above. What was it? She knew she had an active imagination and figured she was just comin’ up with her own crazy thoughts. As she settled down, she grabbed her flashlight and began to look around outside of the car. A shadow came down over the front of the car as she looked high up through the windshield. It was a branch. Relieved, she reached for the door handle. As she went to pull on it, she looked out and saw lights coming. “Finally!” They all stopped at the doorway, looking at Kaley; looking at the car. They were looking….up.

     Kaley jumped out of the car and ran towards Jared. He backed away as she approached. “What’s going on Jared? What took you guys so long? Quit jokin’ around. Let’s go home.” Just then Kaley turned her focus on the car. It was hovering just above it. The shadow was dark and menacing. Something was dripping from its mouth. It was blood.

     It shot back into the night and disappeared. The teenagers ran in separate directions. “Where’s Sam?” Kaley screamed out and didn’t get an answer. Everyone kept their distance from Kaley. “What is going on? What is that thing?” Kaley ran as fast as she could to get as far away from it as she could. Jared kept a close eye on her but from a distance. “Why did you g g go ba ba back to th th th the car Kaley?” “Go back?” she thought. “I Never came in Jared! Why are you avoiding me? What happened in here? What is that thing out there hovering over your car?”

     Jared slowly approached Kaley. “Y y you na na never ccc cccame in?” “No Jared, I fell asleep in the car and woke up just before I saw all of you come out. I heard a crash on top of the car and saw it was a branch…or so I thought.” Listen K K Kaley, you were with us almost the whole time. Y y you have to believe ma ma me.” Just then, Sam came running up. “Sam! Thank goodness you are alright!” “No thanks to you Kaley. What were you thinking anyway? You just better be glad you’re my friend or I’d have to give you a good wallop on the head.” Jared broke them up; “She dada doesn’t remememember being in here Sss sa ss Sam.” “What? That’s crazy! Of course she remembers. Don’t you Kaley?” Kaley looked at Sam, puzzled and shrugged her shoulders. “I was asleep in the car the whole time.”

     A noise came from the darkness. They held hands and faced the source of the sound. Each of them raised their flashlights at the same time. The sizzling sounds of water hitting a hot surface filled the air. Steam came from the shadowy figure. It was in pain. In an instant, it was gone. The creature feared the light so they now knew they could get away. They had to get out of there.

     Jared called out for the rest of the crew. “Ba Ba Brice! He Heather! Ddd Dd Da Devon! Ch Chase!” No answer. They had to go look for them since they were the ones to get them to come. Well, Sam was the one but Jared drove so he felt an obligation to make sure they were alright. They stayed close together as they searched the small rooms in the school house; each room scarier than the last. The shadows crept as they walked slowly along the back wall. The ground was flooded from the heavy rain that just passed. The sound of splashing footsteps was the only thing they could hear.

     Something moved in the back of the room. It was hiding behind some old furniture. They stopped and held their flashlights on it. None of them wanted to move for fear it would come where light didn’t shine. It slowly rose from behind the furniture and stood there. “Jared? Is that you buddy?” Brice and the others came out from hiding. “Boy are we glad to see you guys. It’s afraid of light you know.” “Yeah, we figured that out too.” Kaley spoke but the others hesitated in listening to her words. “Let’s get out of here.” She continued. They all kept close together along the wall with flashlights shining at the darkness. As they moved toward the doorway, they came upon the room where Jared saw something the first time they went in. “Watch my back.” Sam said and started her way into that room. “Ss Sa Sam! Wh wh what are y y you doing?”Her flashlight rose up to the ceiling where the shoes had been. Jared fell to his knees and began to vomit. The others followed suit. Sam screamed, “NOOO!” Kaley was dead.

     They all faced the reality that they had to get out of that place and fast. Things were happening that they couldn’t explain and there was something lurking in the darkness that was evil. They made a run for their cars and jumped in. The cars were running before their feet hit the pedals. Jared and Sam were so shaken they didn’t speak a word.

     …From the back seat; “What’s going on Jared? What took you guys so long?”

THE END

“The keys on your keyboard are the controls to your bulldozer. Take the keys and drive until you are finished. Everything else will kindly move out of your way or be forced to become a part of your path to success.”

Tammy Holloway

 

“Dozer” 

Have a sci-fi day everyone! TLH

The “Write” Way to Study

Homework homework homework! I have a ton of it but thought I would share some of my enjoyment this morning. I make sure to take several breaks throughout my study sessions to keep my mind sharp. (If that’s possible.) If any of you ever decide to go to college here is my recommendation: Go! But seriously….Start off at a community college. Make sure it is an accredited school (meaning other schools will transfer in your credits). Do NOT…I repeat..DO NOT take online courses until you have been in school a while and can no longer be teacher dependent. (Like I was when I first decided to take an online course…geesh!) Now that I have been in college since the stone ages, I feel quite comfortable with online schooling. In fact, we are hours from any college campus out here in the boonies anyway lol! Don’t know what you wanna be when you grow up? That’s okay…I didn’t either all the way to my Master’s. My credits range is so far apart, I can’t see from one end to the other. I do, however, have a Bachelor’s Degree hanging on my wall, with honors. Now I am finishing my Master’s in Accounting. The things you learn in college are hard to explain. I guess you get a wide range of exposure to well-educated professors in all types of fields and they are all willing to give more information. After all, they are teachers.

College is NOT only for smart people. Don’t be discouraged to go. I was the first in my family and I (this is the God’s honest truth) did not know what  semester was. I walked up to the financial aid office at Laramie County Community College and spoke with someone there. They were very helpful in answering all my questions. It had been 10 years since I was in high school so I had to start at a low-level of Math. No biggie…I did it. People seem to always want to point out bad things about college. Yeah it is expensive, yeah it can be hard…but I am not the brightest bulb in the pack. I spend much more time on homework than my husband. He is more along the lines of one of those people you hated in high school because they never did homework or studied but got straight “A’s”. Don’t get me wrong, he is very smart and I am very proud of him but I just want to make a point about college. I made that leap. I joined the military for GI Bill money…which I used up back in the 1800’s (jk). I belong to two honors programs…(not looking good for my Master’s though). How do I do it? I make sure I do all the homework, attend classes regularly (online I have to participate 3 times a week), call the teacher for help, (that’s what they are there for) and last but not least…I study! I have heard it a million times….I can’t….I can’t…I can’t  PHOOOWIE!!! YES YOU CAN! but you have to work for it….just like everything else in life. Our economy isn’t doing too good these days and many people are out of work. The competition is much higher for filling the positions we want so college is a great enhancement to help get you in the direction you want to go.

Now look at these next pictures, have a laugh, and go look into attending college;-)

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!! Laughter is gooOOOood. Laughter is REAL good;-) Now back to homework.

“The keys on your keyboard are the controls to your bulldozer. Take the keys and drive until you are finished. Everything else will kindly move out of your way or be forced to become a part of your path to success.”

Tammy Holloway

 

“Dozer”

 

Have a sci-fi day everyone! TLH

“Write”-fully Yours

I took this picture the other day because I thought this was the most beautiful rose. I cropped the picture and enhanced it some. This picture is rightfully mine…or is it? As far as I’m concerned, share it. I am no photographer and I use other people’s pictures all the time for one reason or another. I don’t make money off other people’s work and I don’t think anyone is going to make money off of mine.

As for our writing, has anyone had their work “borrowed”? I’ve talked to many authors and researched sites with information about copyright laws and found that it is rare to have someone actually take your work for themselves and claim they wrote it. If you still feel uncomfortable about sharing what you have, send it to yourself certified mail. Do not open it and keep it in case something were to happen. That is the old-fashioned way of keeping your material protected. I recently mailed my novel to myself since I am over halfway done. I have been sending it out to different people for editing, coaching, etc. It doesn’t hurt to spent a few bucks to ease your mind. As for the pictures I take, if I felt a need to become some big photographer I would have my name plastered across the photos so they would be useless for the purpose of making money on it.

 If we couldn’t share other people’s material, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy pictures like this:

and this….

These are the highlights of my mornings as I scroll through my Facebook. Someone else’s photos made my day and I hope my photos do the same:-)

 

“The keys on your keyboard are the controls to your bulldozer. Take the keys and drive until you are finished. Everything else will kindly move out of your way or be forced to become a part of your path to success.” Tammy Holloway

 

“Dozer” 

Have a sci-fi day everyone! TLH

 

Held Captive – Science Fiction or Real Life?

I am afraid to say it is very real. Each of us has a story to tell. Many of them are exciting and adventurous. I know I could go on and on about the adventures in my life but this is not the time. I have had an emotional spot in my heart for many, many years now. It is one that is kept within the confines of the family with wishes of leaving it behind and appreciating what came out of it. Unfortunately, I carry it with me. I carry it with a very real and very traumatic story to tell. As a writer, I am stuck between a rock and a hard place.

The story in short goes something like this:

A very close family member was held captive for almost 8 years in a basement. The picture above is only a metaphor, as she was not “chained” up so to speak, but she was locked in a basement, tortured, manipulated and had her child taken away from her and raised by another woman. She wasn’t given the proper nutrition and resorted to eating cat food. The mal-nourishment took over and she began to deteriorate. Her body was shutting down. She no longer had bowel movements. The manipulation she endured caused her to believe great lies about how she was supposed to live. Her mind allowed her to believe many ridiculous things that many of us couldn’t even imagine. Her weight was 80 lbs when she was carried out by the police. She could no longer walk. They had to cover her eyes because the sunlight hurt, having no exposure to it for that long. The scars of cigarette burns on her face still make me tear up. Today she is alive and well but her body is deformed. She stays in a wheel chair and I see her slipping away slowly as nurses work around the clock to help her with almost everything now. The mal-nourishment isn’t through with her yet, oh no. It has to continue to take her bit my bit. Her eyesight is the latest thing to be going. She said she can see green. I act as if it is not a big deal but know it is, once again, the result of the trauma. She doesn’t swallow the same anymore. All those years of having to eat garbage and cat food and now, without complaint, she still can’t have what she wants. She is sweet but cautious. She has a hard time trusting people (Duh) and suffers from anxiety because of it. One of her caretakers has informally adopted her as her own sister, which is commendable for sure.

Okay, let me stop there before I get myself into trouble. Needless to say, I have a story to tell. My question to all of you is – What do you think about a science fiction version of it? I can get away with letting the story out “so to speak” and I can add a great deal of twists and turns and creepiness. (Like it needs it huh?). It is definitely a story all by itself but to save my family from grief (since the captors are still out there, running free) I thought I could at least get out a sci-fi version?

Once upon a time, there was a woman who did want to write a book about it but the family told her no. I wish I knew her name. Also, the captors went on a talk show to try and “clear” their name to the whole fiasco. Needless to say it was a joke. The audience wasn’t falling for it and the courts ordered them to stop being public about it.

I think I’ve said enough for today……Just do me a favor and make this day be filled with thankfulness ((((HUGS TO ALL))))  TLH