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| Once upon a time.... | |
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| Topic Started: Apr 1 2008, 02:03 PM (646 Views) | |
| Liarg | May 20 2009, 03:36 PM Post #21 |
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Stranger, in an even stranger land....
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James sits, mesmerized by the stories.....althought previously he had spent his entire life in service of his country, and in working to save contless others, he had been away from it for so long it was like only a dream. Hearing Zandra tell of her exploits and the excitement, successes, and disappointments of her experiences awakened a spirt within him that had been dormant for quite a while.... Bored?....never, he exclaimed. But it is getting on towards dinner time. I hope you will consider hanging out here and having a meal with me...I am going to throw something on the grill...probably not hot dogs... ....What would you like? James gets up, tops off Zandra's coffee, and opens the freezer to see what is inside.... |
| There is no normal life, Wyatt; there's just life. Get on with it. | |
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| Liarg | Jun 24 2011, 03:36 PM Post #22 |
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Stranger, in an even stranger land....
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Walking across the yard and up the stairs, things look much the same as they did when he last visited the cabin. Beautiful scenery, a simple rustic setting, memories both hauntingly painful and yet intoxicatingly wonderful seem to hang in the air like a cloud..........Being gone a day, a week , a year....or more never takes away the longing to return, and nothing elsewhere can compare to the relief that he feels when he returns to this place.... His bootheels echo loudly as he walks across the deck to the door, and he reaches into his shirt to remove the key that he has worn on a chain around his neck for how long now.......is it forever? Unsure, he eases the key in the lock, wondering if it has been changed in his absence, and is surprised, and relieved when the bolt slides easily back. The door opens....and he steps inside. |
| There is no normal life, Wyatt; there's just life. Get on with it. | |
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| Liarg | Apr 15 2015, 01:02 PM Post #23 |
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Stranger, in an even stranger land....
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No longer transported by helicopter or armored Humvee, James drives, aimless and alone along the quiet lake road. He negotiates the turns thoughtlessly, his mind far, far away. Memories rise up like fog from the surface of the lake as the sun rises across the water. Thoughts of years gone by, of his career, of his friends, of adversaries, and enemies. Thoughts of terrible times, and also of times so sweet that they should have lasted forever. Friends who have gone on before him, hopefully to be waiting there in the "clearing at the end of the path" (as Mr. King so eloquently put it), and others who just drifted away. Memories that, to this day, still make him smile and make his heart jump, and those that take him spiraling into despair that seems insurmountable. As this collage of memory rushes past in the windshield of his jeep, he suddenly snaps back to reality as the vehicle's power steering locks when the engine abruptly shuts off. After making several attempts to revive the vehicle, James steps out and sees a familiar sight. Up a long, sloping driveway sits a cabin, dark and forlorn, yet somehow familiar and comforting. He walks up the driveway, losing any thoughts of his vehicle, or where he was going. He arrives at the cabin and walks up the front steps to the door. Looking through the window, he sees the place just as it was when he left it last, year ago. Dust covers are draped over the furniture, but everything looks intact. He stares down at the doorknob for a moment, and reaches into his shirt, pulling out a key that he has worn day and night for as long as he can remember. He holds the key in his hand, with his other hand on the doorknob, for some time....then thinking better of it, returns the key to its place on his chest, he walks around the porch to the back side of the house, where he sits down in a creaky old rocker where he spend many a wonderful evening. His thoughts go back to his childhood, his father and mother, military school, basic training, his service. The men and women who shaped and molded him into the young man he became. People whose lives he saved, and people whose lives he took. Brothers in arms, and traitors who betrayed him. He looks down at his hands, scarred and rough from the work he has done all of his life, and notably absent of any jewelery. Staring at his left ring finger, the names flash through his mind..... Christina, a beautiful, dark haired beauty. His first love. The heart that beat inside him was fueled by her presence. Her strength, her inner peace, her unwavering love, her goodness had guided him. Christina was the first woman who ever turned his head, the person who showed him what love really was. His friend, his companion, his mate, his wife, his better half, truly a part of him. The day that she died in childbirth, giving birth to his only daughter, was the blackest moment in his life. Ahleen, Tatrix of The Jewelled Wastes….another beautiful woman, but full of pain and hostility..very much the same as James. They met after corresponding for quite some time, when Liarg provided military support to The Jewelled Wastes during a period of revolution. It had been several years since Christina had died, and Ahleen was the first woman since that time to catch his interest. They became friends, but she was never interested in more. However, her influence showed James that his heart could live again. Shay-The sexiest, most interesting, most fun woman he had ever know. She gave herself to him totally, not once, but twice, and twice he broke her heart. And sadly, he still does not know what went wrong. He had been so happy, so content, so in love, but somehow his feelings faded away……insecurities and doubts coming into his mind and heart, and twisting him away from her, without even an explanation. His heart still breaks thinking of how unfair he was to her. Lelana Songwind-where did she even come from? After Shay, suddenly she was there, like the sun breaking through between the dark storm clouds. She had become a best friend first, and later the love had developed. A good bit younger than James, Lelana had brought freshness into his tired life, and opened his eyes to new things. Although perhaps not stronger than his feelings for other women in his life, the feelings were different, in a very good way. She had been very understanding of his strange and confusing life, and was the motivation for him to consider leaving his positions of authority and settling down into a normal life. He had even bought a beautiful diamond and was planning to ask her to marry him on Christmas Day, but of course, those plans were shattered by her revelation that she was leaving. The news had hurt James, but strangely, not as badly as he first expected that it would. It was just never meant to be apparently…… Sitting abruptly up in the chair, James realizes that they day has slipped away, and the moon is rising through the trees across the lake. Owls begin their song, and a whippoorwill cries from the trees below the deck. Somewhere in the distance, a roar rises up above the breeze as a lone lion claims the night as his domain. James rises and walks back to his jeep, which starts on the first turn of the key, and he then disappears into the darkness. |
| There is no normal life, Wyatt; there's just life. Get on with it. | |
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| Liarg | Apr 29 2015, 08:58 AM Post #24 |
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Stranger, in an even stranger land....
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James hikes alone through the mountainous Canadian wilderness with a small backpack, trying to clear his mind and relax. As he breaks out of the dense forest into a meadow, he sees an old brick chimney rising up from the ruins of an old settler's cabin. Nearly everything is gone except the stone foundation of the house, some rusty tools and implements scattered around what must have been a small workshop, and a ring of neat stone about three feet high rising up from the back yard. James approaches the ring of stones, which was surely once the well from which the settler drew his water. Gazing down into the darkness, James can see the reflection of the clouds float by on the water below. Silently he stands for a moment, an eternity, lost in thought. He reaches into his pocket, and pulls out a hand full of gold newtons, and closes his eyes as he rubs them together. Then he reaches out and drops one into the depths, and as he hears the splash he whispers the name of old friends that he once knew and loved, who have either moved on with their lives, or arrived at the clearing at the end of the path. Splash (JT), splash (Lizzie), splash (Kana da), splash (Ess), splash (Lelana), splash (Chex), splash (Bweezy), splash (Carb), splash (TV), splash (KG), splash (JG), splash (Daemon), thinking of others both remembered and forgotten he lets a final coin drop, tumbling end over end as if in slow motion it finally hits the surface and disappears with the others into the inky blackness. James stands a moment staring into the water as the ripples die out, then adjusts his pack and returns to the forest trail. |
| There is no normal life, Wyatt; there's just life. Get on with it. | |
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7:38 PM Jul 10