Entry #9 or, "A prose by any other name..."

Hey all,

     I bought a set of Story Cubes several months back for the sheer novelty of them. I haven't done anything with them other than mention I own them, but tonight I think I'll try to use them in writing.

Here's what I rolled:

First roll I'm actually using

     I put them in an order that seemed right to me; no idea what will come of this roll. The old saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words". If that's true, I should be able to get a good 9000 out of these.

No outline, no prep, just seeing what I can get out of these symbols. So here goes:

***

     There's a legend up in the Mid-West, or so the stories go, about the mounds that are found in the Mississippi Valley. According to it, the peoples who once dwelled there attempted to build temples to rival those of the Egyptians or the Aztecs. Like those ancient civilizations, these folk attempted to build along the cardinal directions and made eight buildings arrayed in a circle facing inward.

     When they had finished, the people held a great feast with a huge bonfire in the center of the circle at the height of the celebration, a star appeared in the heavens and fell to earth, landing in the bonfire. The people didn't know what to make of this; was it a sign from the gods? If so, what did mean? Did they approve of the people's work or condemn it? 

     The star was revealed to be a child, who stood up and walked out of the fire unharmed. Whether the child was a boy or a girl, the stories don't say, but it was beatific to behold and drew the people's attention to itself.

     "I have come from the stars", it said, " to tell you of a land beyond where the sun sets." 

     "What is this land?", the leader of the people asked, "Why have you come to tell us of it?"

     "It is the land that I have come guide you, for this land will soon fall under great darkness and cold.", said the child.

     "What do you mean?", said the leader, "this land is fertile with game and crops and we have labored long hard to build these temples. Four seasons have come and gone since the first stone was layed down; we have proven we can live and tame these lands."

     ***

I'm not exactly sure what the child would say in response, so I'll leave it hear. I'm still not in the habit of actually writing so it will be awhile before I pick this back up again, though hopefully not too long. 

So, until next time,

Joshua (Sweeper) Brumley

Entry #8 or, "Your timing, sir, is impecable."

Hey all,

A couple of days ago, I get a call from my dad who has my old smartphone. He tells me that the Department of Homeland Security called and needed me to get in touch with them. The reason? To take a physical for the Border Patrol.

I took the entry test around a year and a half ago when I was still living in Arizona and this is the first I've heard from them since. I now live in Maryland which means their call came came through a few weeks short.

Ugh.

Now I'm trying to get in touch with the hiring center to update my contact info. so I can schedule the physical. Trying to reach them is a task in and of itself; all their agents are constantly on the phone.  Hopefully, someday, I'll get in contact with them to get my info corrected so I can do the physical and see where it goes from there.

Which brings me to another possible problem, my weight. I never was and never will be a 'thin person' (as Kevin Smith like to call them), but these past few months showed that I dropped the ball on keeping healthy.

260 lbs.

Yup, I wasn't paying attention and I gained a mess of weight. Whoops.

Time to get the bike fixed and my posterior on it. I'll begin to post my weight on the posts as kind of a way to keep myself honest. Hopefully it'll work.

Until next time,

Joshua (Sweeper) Brumley