*Magnify*
    March     ►
SMTWTFS
     
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Archive RSS
SPONSORED LINKS
Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/profile/blog/liliapadwes/sort_by/entry_order DESC, entry_creation_time DESC/page/4
Rated: E · Book · Entertainment · #1932477
It is a waste to ignore the musings of the mind.
Writing is the communication of the writer's hopes and dreams. To write is to express the laughter, the tears, the joys of the heart. It is the writer's desire to communicate all his feelings and desires in her/her heart to a reader.
Previous ... 1 2 3 -4- 5 6 7 8 ... Next
April 3, 2015 at 1:20am
April 3, 2015 at 1:20am
#845670
"Yo-hoo, everyone, wakey, wakey!!!"

Lita knew something was wrong when she awoke and did not see Jess by her side. She jumped up and almost collided with Jo.

"Sorry, Jo, I must have dropped off to a nap." Lita brushed off the grass on her jeans.

"Oops, sorry, too, I didn't mean to bump into you." Jo suddenly realized Jess was missing.

"Yo-hoo, I'm up here." Jess stood on a large branch of the grape tree, her left hand held on tight to another branch as she waved with her right hand..

"Oh, my gosh, Jess, please come down this minute." Lita ran to the tree, her eyes were wide with alarm.

"Jess, Jess, please come down now." Jo pleaded.

"My gosh, Jess, I don't want your Mom to scold me. Please come down." Ana added her plea.

"Look at you three down there. You're scared to bits. Don't worry, I won't fall. Can you see, I'm holding on to this branch?" Jess was enjoying the looks of fright on her three friends.

Alert now and uneasy, Lita took off her shoes and started up the tree. She took one step up but she fell and landed on her back, on the grass.

"Lita, please don't climb up. I'll be all right." Jess became anxious.

Jo and Ana rushed to Lita and helped her off the grass. They led her back to the blanket, where they sat and had their nap.

For about a minute, Jess looked and waited until the three got to the blanket. When she saw Lita sat down without a word, she realized her friend must really be worried.

"Okay, okay, I'll come down now." Jess started her way down the tree. As she stepped on another branch, it cracked, and Jess went flying down. She reached for something to hold on, but she was falling into space.

Lita, Jo, and Ana heard the branch as it cracked, and they looked up. Aghast and frightened, they saw Jess fall and landed on her face on the ground below. They ran to her when she didn't move.

Lita got to Jess first. She screamed and cried as she knelt to turn Jess over. Jess' face was covered in blood, her eyes were closed, and she was not breathing.

"No, oh no, Jess, wake up, wake up." Lita paled. She turned to Jo and Ana, her face was twisted, her mouth was moving but both Ana and Jo heard no sound from her.

Jo and Ana clung to each other as they froze at the blood oozing out of Jess' mouth and nose. They heard Lita's scream but they just stared and held each other, trembling.

"Ana, run and get Jess' Mom, quickly." Lita shouted as she realized she was shocked at seeing blood. "Hurry, Ana!"

"But... but I don't want to." Ana cried, tears steaming down her cheeks.

"Go now, run." Lita and Jo screamed.


(To be continued)


April 3, 2015 at 12:28am
April 3, 2015 at 12:28am
#845668
Yo-hoo, everyone, wakey, wakey!!!

March 24, 2015 at 3:37am
March 24, 2015 at 3:37am
#844830
She was a young teen, full of promise, excited with the world, a free thinker, as she thought so herself. She grew up with a mother, whose religious beliefs became a daily reminder, to her. She loved her mother but as she became older she realized her mother did not love her.

"Don't climb a tree, Jessica."

"No, Mom, I will not climb a tree."

Off she went, running toward the mountain, where her friends were waiting for her.

It was the mountain she learned to love, just about 500 feet high, and there were pathways that lead up to the top. She and her friends climb the mountain as often as they can, during school holidays.

"Well, finally, you got here." Echoed her friends as she approached them.

"Sorry, guys, but I woke up a bit late."

"Shall we start our climb now?" Lita said, her best friend among the three girls. The other two were Jo and Ana. They were all in the same grade at school.

"Let's!" Jessica led the way. The others followed behind her.

"What are we going to do today?" Lita came abreast with Jessica.

"Actually, I wanted to climb that grape tree that we found yesterday."

"Oh, no, but your Mom did forbid you to climb a tree." Lita was aghast.

"Yes, you must not disobey your Mom, Jess." Jo put in as she followed close to Jessica and Lita.

"I don't want your Mom to scold me if anything happens to you when you climb a tree." Ana echoed as she mentally counted her steps.

"Okay, okay, I hear you all. I will not climb a tree today." Jessica laughed out.

"Here we are. That didn't take us long to get to the top today, eh?" Jessica panted. She found a tree branch and sat on it. The other three found their dead branches, and exhaled loudly.

Jessica looked up and gasped.

"Look at those bunches of grapes up that tree. Bunches of them, and they look like they're ready to be eaten."

"Please, don't do it, please." Lita went white.

"You're not going to, are you, Jess?" Jo and Ana got off their branch and stared at Jessica.

Jessica just laughed, ran to the seven-foot tree, and began to climb it. Lita ran after her and grabbed at her right leg. Jo and Ana followed and grabbed at her left leg.

"Let go of me, you brutes." Jessica laughed as she slid off the tree.

Lita, Jo and Ana let go as they all fell to the ground.

"Well, don't blame me if you cannot have those bunches of grapes. Just look at them. They are ready to be eaten." Jessica got off the grass and started to walk away from the tree.

"We brought some drinks and some sandwiches, just in case we get hungry." Lita said.

"That's right, here, you can have some peanut butter sandwich." Ana took out a sandwich from her bag.

"Thanks, Ana, but I'm not hungry with a sandwich. I really would like to have some of those grapes."

"Please, Jess, don't climb the tree." Lita pleaded.

"We don't want you to get hurt if you fall. That is quite a high tree." Jo said.

"Please, Jess, try not to look at that tree. Why don't we find a better place to eat our picnic?" Lita suggested.

"Yes, why don't we? Look at that mango tree up there. It is shady, and probably we can reach up to pluck some of those mangoes that are just hanging low to the ground. We don't need to climb that tree." Jo added.

"All right, all right." Jessica agreed as she began to walk toward the mango tree.

The other three clapped their hands as they followed Jessica.









February 13, 2015 at 1:44am
February 13, 2015 at 1:44am
#841258
She clung to his right arm as she limped, holding on to her cane with her right hand. She advanced inch by inch toward the field just ahead. She heard the voices and she turned to him.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yes, there must be a whole lot of them, celebrating the return of spring." He laughed, not realizing he dragged her.

"Stop." She breathed hard. "You're dragging me again."

"I'm sorry." He slowed down, and stopped a two steps ahead of her.

"You go on ahead. Don't worry about me."

"No, no, here, take my arm." He turned, and gripped her hand. He slowed to a pace with her.

They neared the festivities just then. The crowd was two-feet deep, there was a fence around the field perimeter. As they got there, he dropped her arm and jumped over the barrier. He joined the crowd without a backward look at her.

She looked awkwardly at the fence and decided it was impossible for her to jump it. She stood for a mere moment, and then turned around. She limped back to the bus stop, without a backward look.

She realized at that very moment she was a lost soul without her ID. He had asked for it a few days back, convincing her it was safe in his pocketbook as they travelled. He added it was safe for her to walk without a purse since she had the cane.

She stopped, and thought of calling him. She shook her head and continued her limp toward the bus stop. She had some cash in her jacket pocket, which she knew was enough for a ticket home.

She didn't think he'd miss her. She saw his face when they got to the field. He was excited and his face was all smiles. That was the scene she kept before her as she walked on.

Now she realized she was on her own. However, his words rang in her ears: "I shall never let you down, never leave you because I love you. I will be your protector as we grow old together."

It was a classic pretence. She felt betrayed. She knew then she was not going to believe him at all - no matter what sort of protestations he'd say to her. She sniffed and felt a pain on her left leg. She limped on to the bench at the bus stop. She sighed heavily as she pulled a tissue out of her pocket. She wiped away the tears that stung her.





January 30, 2015 at 12:40am
January 30, 2015 at 12:40am
#839854
The sea air felt good as it warmed me under the bright sunlight coming through the open roof. The sea was calm and the ship was sailing through the waters of the Pacific! The pool was occupied by vacationers who were escaping the coldness of the winter. There were deck chairs, with people either snoozing or reading or just chatting with each other. My husband and I stepped into the Lido Deck!

Yes, it's the open air deck of a cruise ship, the Veendam. For anyone's information, Veendam is a Holland America Line - one of the ships that travel from San Diego, California to the islands of Hawaii.

I remembered how frozen I felt minutes before we boarded the ship. We went directly to our cabin, and changed into appropriate clothing - to enjoy the warm breeze of the sea, and enjoy the laziness of the afternoon!!!

Then came the time to visit the beautiful islands of the Hawaiin Peninsula. What a treat it was. We stepped off the ship, and found our way to a shop - the Segway Shop. The instructers, a guy and his friend from Europe, were superb. We got about 15 minutes of practice (since we have never in our life operated a Segway!), with some sort of nervousness and a weakening of the knees. The practice was over (10 minutes of leaning forward/backward, left/right, bending knees - and off we took to the streets of Maui, sailing into the warm breeze, waving to cars as they sped to their destinations. Believe it or not, cars stopped when we crossed the streets! My thought at that time was, would California drivers have stopped?

We stopped at a Japanese Temple, observed people walking at parks and lanes, took a rest to stare and look at what was left of sugarcane fields, smelled the sweet aroma of coffee plantations, but we were awfully disappointed we did not see any pineapple plantations. No matter, we loved the rolling waves of the sea; participated in learning the "mahalo" (meaning thank you) word, and enjoyed the company of other Segway-learning people!

Then, of course, there was always the shopping areas, the people with smiling faces, and the crowd of vacationers tripping from one area to another.

In the end, we boarded the ship again as we relaxed once more at the Lido Deck; that is, after enjoying the lunch. We wanted to stay a little bit more, but the next island was waiting and we dared not miss it!!!

So we said Aloha to Maui as we sailed to Kawaui!!! Aloha can mean either Hello and/or goodbye!!!



December 29, 2014 at 3:13am
December 29, 2014 at 3:13am
#837296
As we leave the month of December in the year of 2014, we tend to think back and remember what we did that made 2014 special to us.

What did we do to make our life more interesting to write about?

We made writing the focus of our life. We struggled to write fiction, nonfiction, perhaps some autobiography, or even a novel. We determined to keep our writing specially significant, to show how much we have grown, how far we have learned the meaning of showing and not of telling. We have decided to accomplish something that is dear to our hearts: that our writing has grown in stature, in truth, in honesty.

We are, in a sense, looking at how much writing has taken charge of our life. We have dreamed, we have tried to accomplish something that we thought was a mere idea, and made that dream a part of our life. We have succeeded in learning the very heart of writing, and we thought we have embraced that writing as part of our life - for the coming year, 2015.

And so, we now welcome the new year. Are we ready to accomplish more to make our writing much, much more a part of our life this coming new year? Are we ready to continue learning more about the writing, the publishing, the submission, the editing? Are we ready to do more than dream?

Let's do it!!!


December 6, 2014 at 1:08am
December 6, 2014 at 1:08am
#835485
Today I saw him again: a young man, awfully looking thin in his black shirt and pants, begging by the side of the road.

I hated myself for not stopping to talk to him. I cried because I didn't go near him, thinking it might not be "safe" for me. I despised my reaction because I was plain selfish and a hypocrite.

The first time I saw him I thought of my grandson. How terrible it was for me if that young man was my grandson. How did this young boy get to that situation? Why was he begging? Why wasn't he in school? Why? Why? Did he run away from home? Did he have a mother? Did he have a family? Where were they, why did they let this young boy beg and go hungry?

"Are you all right?" asked my husband when I got home.

My emotions got hold of me, and I just flopped down and gave in to tears. Flabbergasted, my husband stood in silence, listening to my "bubble". Many minutes later I calmed down, and I told him what happened on my drive home.

"I understand your frustration," he said. "Remember, though, that young boy may prefer to beg."

"How can you say that? He looked as if he had no "meat" on, so thin and gangly, as if he had had no food for such a long time."

"He probably had an argument with his family, and decided to prove to them he can live without them."

"That was not like him at all, the way he looked. His eyes were expressionless; he didn't smile when someone handed him money, just nodded at the guy in the car. He didn't look aggressive because he merely sat by the side of the road, looking lost and forlorn."

"Maybe he is all alone in the world," added my husband, as he tried to give reason to the young boy's situation.

"But surely, there must be agencies that are able to find such people and take them in and give them help?"

"There are lots and lots of reasons that he ended up begging. But I'm sure you cannot blame yourself for what happened to him."

"I'm not, I felt so guilty for not stopping, for not strong enough to talk to him, for not giving him a chance to tell me all about him."

"Would you like me to drive you back where he is, so you can talk to him?"

When we got to the place, the young man was no longer there. I asked the shop owner if he noticed the young boy, begging in front of his shop. But the shop owner said he did notice him, however, he got rather busy with his customers he didn't see him leave.

I looked for him at the side of road every day since, but I never saw him again.

elephantsealer
















November 11, 2014 at 12:04am
November 11, 2014 at 12:04am
#833805
A few days ago I learned my grandson became heart broken because his friend left him.

He is a talented and sensitive boy, and he has a tendency to lose control of his emotions. He gets attached to a friend, and when that friend 'leaves' him, he gets terribly emotional. He tends to keep things to himself.

He is fortunate in that his mother cares and loves him, and is always 'on hand' to help him through his emotional upheavals.

I remember my teenhood days when I got emotional and thoughts of 'leaving home' crowd my mind. I have, in fact, 'ran' away from home a number of times, but because I was young and didn't understand the need for finances when alone in the streets; so I ultimately got back home.

I believe many of our teenagers roaming the streets, who have left home because of some disagreements with family members, are not aware that 'leaving home' is the worst they can think of. I believe being young is the hardest part of a child's growing up. They have the tendency to act impulsively, and to blame others first before turning to themselves and scrutinizing the whole episode of what happened, how things got very 'heated', and why they should calm down and think hard before deciding to 'leave home'.

As adults, we have gone through all the emotional upheavals that teenagers get into; and as adults, we tend to forget that we were young once. It is easy to deny we did not get angry and frustrated with our parents when we were teens. But the fact is we got in trouble because of our youth.

It is not to say that young people don't think; but there is that element of defiance that becomes the root of disagreement; or shall we say, the beginning of conflict. There are fortunately youth who have the ability to control their emotions; and there are more of them as compared to those who unfortunately believe they have been wronged; and therefore they must either 'leave home' to get away from the frustration and disagreements in the home or find a way to waste their life and therefore their future.

I understand the difficulty of having children, caring for them through their daily, growing lives, and for parents to realize that one day they have not given the best care and love to their children, who decide to do drugs, to steal, to waste their life on the streets. When parents ask themselves the question: 'what did I do to my children?', as adults we come to the conclusion we have not given them the best care and love they deserve.

Our children deserve to be loved, to be cared for no matter how they turn out, to be shielded from harm, to be sheltered from horror, to be fed, to be LOVED. Isn't that the reason why we have children?


October 22, 2014 at 12:03am
October 22, 2014 at 12:03am
#831931
Years ago if someone suggested I take a cruise, my answer would be a definite NO!!! But as things go there are times we learn to change our attitude. And I did so when I went on a short cruise.

I took hold of myself and prepared things I may need should I get terribly sick onboard. I took with me prescription tablets as well as something I know would help me in any "sickening" situation: a bagful of ginger - the only item that helps me when I feel sick in a moving vessel.

As it happened, the four-day cruise to Alaska was great. I did not even feel sick at all - even when I felt a small movement of the ship as I toured and visited the different areas. I amazed myself.

Then, I went on another cruise that really gave me the "heaves". On our cruise out of New York to Canada, there was a big storm - and it rocked the ship. And that's when I swore again never to do another cruise.

It actually took another year or so for my husband to convince ma to go on another cruise. This time on a ship that is bigger and better equipped when a storm hits.

And I'm glad I took another cruise because sometime in the new year, I am off on another cruise to visit all the islands in the Hawaiian peninsula.

I am now a mariner of some sort!!!




October 12, 2014 at 4:25am
October 12, 2014 at 4:25am
#830870
I was in a cruise recently. There was an incident that caught my interest. People who go on cruises are good eaters. They fill dining rooms almost every hour of the day, looking for food. There are those who hate vegetables. They look at the greens and make faces, as if the taste of the green, leafy, vegetables are poison. There are those who turn their nose on fried food. There are also people who are not satisfied with what they eat. They are forever complaining, either on how the food is cooked or uncooked or why the food is not served on time!!!!

Then, there are those who love nothing but beef. They would touch nothing but beef, no matter how palatable other meats are. Beef is good when it is uncooked, when blood is still dripping from the flesh. Beef is the food of the rich and therefore, one should only feast on beef.

Also, there are cruise-goers who only eat in the dining room upstairs, where they are served and pampered by waiters; and they don't have to line up to pick their food. The food is served to them. There are also people who think the cruise ship is a place where they can command the attention of waiters/room attendants. They don't bother to say "thank you" and "please".

Cruise ships are great but then comes the accidents. People forget to get back from excursions and miss the sailing time. The cruise ship stops at places where people leave the ship for about two/three hours to see and enjoy amenities on land, which means away from the ship for only a short time. They know the time the ship sails but some forget and they are left stranded on land!!!!

Cruising is great, if only everything is perfect!!!!!


80 Entries · *Magnify*
Page of 8 · 10 per page   < >
Previous ... 1 2 3 -4- 5 6 7 8 ... Next

© Copyright 2024 elephantsealer (UN: liliapadwes at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
elephantsealer has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.

Log in to Leave Feedback
Username:
Password: <Show>
Not a Member?
Signup right now, for free!
All accounts include:
*Bullet* FREE Email @Writing.Com!
*Bullet* FREE Portfolio Services!
Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/profile/blog/liliapadwes/sort_by/entry_order DESC, entry_creation_time DESC/page/4