Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Happy Early Halloween!

I just realized that this is only my second post in October. Yikes! I try to write once a week, then something comes up, and I just don't get around to it. I'll try to be better about it, but sometimes I feel like I have nothing that important to say.

Anyways, since it's almost Halloween, here is my version of a 'ghost' story. And don't worry, it's clean and not even scary. Enjoy!

A House of Glass



          “This’ll be great!” Aaron says next to me. “I’ll bet there are loads of haunted things in there.”

            I look up at the house that’s just a shadow against the half-light of the moon. The entire rotted wooden frame leans to the side, as if longing for its existence to be over, and the broken glass in the windows grin crookedly like jack-o-lantern teeth.

            “Yes,” I remark, listening to the trees on either side of us rasp in the wind. “It’ll be much more fun than going to a haunted house and being chased by guys in gorilla suits holding chain saws.” I chuckle, remembering last year’s silly Halloween outing.

            “Let’s go in,” Matt says behind me. “I’m getting cold.”

            So, in a trio, we walk over the cracked sidewalk, open the weather-weary door, and enter the ghost of a house.

            The wood floor creaks under our feet and the whole house shutters in the gusts of angry wind. We’ve entered a kind of entry way with torn wallpaper and a bare light-bulb that probably wouldn’t give off much light if it was still working.

            “This place is sweet. Let’s check out this room first,” Aaron strides into a room to our right, and Matt and I follow a bit more timidly.

            “Wow,” Matt says once we enter the dark room, and I nod in agreement.

            Every wall is covered with a sheet of glass like still lake water. Only the ceiling and floor are wood.

            Aaron walks up to a wall and gazes at it, his breath misting the smooth surface. “Look, guys, you can see the other room.”

            I walk up to the wall and peer through. Sure enough, on the other side of the glass is the empty entry way we just left.

            “Cool,” I remark. “I wonder if all the other rooms are like this. And if so, why would you want to live in a house of glass?”

            “You wouldn’t have any privacy, that’s for sure,” Matt replies, looking through the opposite wall. “The room through here is exactly the same as this one. How strange.”

            I step back and a flash of red catches my eye. I glance at the wall cattycorner to me and see nothing.

            My heart beginning to run, I walk to the glass wall and gaze long and hard at it. There’s a room identical to this one on the other side. While gazing at the empty room for any sign of red, a gruesome, wolf-like face with bright red eyes and finger-long teeth appears.

            I gasp and step back, looking anywhere but in the room on the other side of the glass.

            “What is it?” Matt asks, coming to stand by me.

            “Nothing,” I reply, not wanting to seem scared. “Where’s Aaron?”

            Matt glances around. “I’m not sure. I’ll go look for him.” He leaves through the door to the entryway, and I walk silently to the other door that I guess leads to the room where I saw the creature.

            I open the door slowly, my hands slick with sweat and the hairs raised on the back of my neck.

            I see nothing through the crack in the door, so I creep into the glass room.

            The fearsome beast is nowhere to be seen. I glance at the black glass, noticing nothing unusual.

            Then, wondering if I look as frightened as I feel, I step closer to one wall. I don’t look through the glass to the next room, but at it.

            I yell and jump back.

            The beast is on the other side of the mirror again, but now its entire body is in sight.

            It is standing on two shaggy legs, with its other two legs still beside it. Rusty red blood saturates its fur, but even more startling is the hate gleaming at me through its red eyes.

            My mouth opens in horror and the creature stretches it mouth wide, revealing its scissor-sharp teeth and blood-stained tongue.

            I take a step back, sure the evil creature will attack any moment, strong enough to shatter the glass. And sure enough, it takes a step toward me.

            Then, like the bursting of an artery, the terrible truth hits me.

            The beast is me.

           

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Lindsey Stirling, Anyone?

So, my brother and some of his friends came up for a Lindsey Stirling concert here Wednesday. It was super great to see him. And, of course, the concert was awesome. If you have not heard about Lindsey Stirling, type her into Youtube and see some of her homewade, crazy cool videos. You can also check her webpage out here.

But who is this girl, you might ask? She's a woman who plays the violin and dances at the same time. She likes to do hip-hop music, and all of her music is original. She went on Dancing with the Stars and got chewed up at the final. But she just released her first CD and is touring all over the country, hence the concert I went to on Wednesday. She's very talented and cute and fun. Check her out if you're interested.

I think it's so cool that she has pursued her desires, even when people told her not to, and it might seem strange that her profession is playing the violin in a hip-hop way while dancing. But if God has given us talents and passions, we should pursue them with all our might and become the best so He gets the glory (this last part is easier said than done; so often I want the glory!) So, what passions/desires/gifts has God given you? It could be as simple as being a mother, or as crazy as being an underwater basket weaver.

And, because everyone loves pics, here are some of the hike I went on with some people from CCU (notice the snow; it was freezing!) And because I'm dumb, I forgot to take my camera with me to the Lindsey Stirling concert :).