Category: Bladder cancer

I used to be a person who would not compromise. There are only a few things now that I won’t. Personal values may sway a bit but when it comes down to the end, I stand strong. I think inherit beliefs and values stick with you forever.

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Https://lindaghill.com/2017/01/23/just-jot-it-january/2017

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Fandango’s Flashback Friday — January 22

Do you see them?  Could this be our destination?  What magnificence they hold, what feeling would you have floating there, surrounded by a sea of stars? Such beauty can’t be measured or taken lightly.  To be able to lay back on the soft ground, cool breeze drifting over your body–the tiny piece of human flesh that holds you here for a moment. It’s only the blink of an eye that you’re here this earthly plane.

But this, this wonderment surrounding us all, will be here long after we’ve discarded these shells.  Will another dimension greet us with a closeup of these stars?  Do you know?  Can you know?  

https://allaboutwritingandmore.wordpress.com/2017/06/08/daily-picture-prompt-164/

When it comes to apples

I’m sort of a priss,

I only like the ones

That are crisp!

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/crisp/

https://rugby843.blog

I sought your shelter

As it was, short contentment

Belied the hoped for

Needed love, and assurance

Now I need to shelter you.

https://ramblingsofawriter.wordpress.com/weeklytankapromptchallenge-48-shelter&contentment/

White tipped waves roll in

The sea nips waiting boulders

To smooth rough edges.

https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2017/06/07/heeding-haiku-with-chevrefeuille-june-7th-2017-rough-sea/

I happily headed out first thing in the morning, it was fairly bright, no clouds. I intended on meeting my friend for breakfast before we spent the day on the bay. I ordered my usual plain old fashioned donut and caramel latte. He was later than usual, so I grabbed the newspaper.

The news was sad and discouraging. I perused headlines only, not suppressing my enthusiasm for the day. We had one rule for our outings, ” nothing serious”. We needed to have time being upbeat without discussing the world’s troubles. The day was planned to lift our spirits, as it always was.

I decided to phone my friend, to razz him for being late. His wife answered, but her voice was garbled and hard to understand. I asked what was wrong only to hear an answer I couldn’t fathom. “Joe was killed on his way to meet you.” She was so upset I didn’t get the details, but it was such a shock I wouldn’t have heard them anyway.

The boat was just waiting there, but I was pulled to the dark water at the end of the steps. I could just walk in and join my friend.

https://flashfictionforthepracticalpractitioner.wordpress.com/2017/06/07/flash-fiction-for-the-purposeful-practitioner-2017-week-24/n

No sleep again, unless you categorize it as dozing fitfully between three and five in the morning.  I rose to use the restroom and thought to myself, is this some ancient curse thrust upon me?  Have I committed some evil doing to cause these endless sleepless nights?  The headaches from reading, constantly trying to tire myself enough to fall into that comfortable, easy dreaming state and then waking up almost in a cocoon, sheltered from the outside world, where no part of you aches, feels anything, as if just floating on clouds.  I’ve had a few of those mornings and I long for them again.

I return to the bedroom, my eyes not focusing on anything except the bed.  Do I really want to get into it again, try to reclaim the missed sleep?  Activity and familiar sounds are becoming more frequent around me. I can only think they will increase and trying to rest during the busy mornings of others is futile. I do long for the covers, being in a fresh sheeted bed with soft light blankets, a completed dream of every person with insomnia.  

The cell phone emits a devilish twist of a song, intended at the setting of it to be a comical notice of an urgent text from my friend.  I reluctantly look to see it’s just a reminder of our meeting later in the day.  It always seems a good idea to make these plans, but when rising from no rest the night before, my enthusiasm for the event disappears. I replied “okay” which was a poor response but all I could manage at the time.

I stumble into the kitchen to find the kettle, as if a dose of caffeine will solve my problem. I turn the burner on and hope the kettle whistles soon.  I plod into the bathroom once again and look in the mirror.  I reach for a cloth and vigorously scrub my face with hot water, and then splash with cold.  My eyes are still refusing to cooperate fully, which is a blessing from above.

The slow insistent shrill from the teakettle calls me to make the morning tea.  It’s reveille in a hot steaming cup.

Weekly Writing Prompt #92

Helen was almost there.  Looking back over her shoulder confirmed they weren’t after her yet and the home’s  lights were still bright. Her boots seemed suficient at first, but hurrying so, she had been unable to get her warmer coat and hat.  “No time.  No worrying about what you forgot will help you now”, her mind kept going over and over it.  They found her out and now she’s on the run.  Making it to the lighthouse would ensure her safety.  She could rely on the old gentleman.

Every part of her was freezing.  She didn’t plan on them finding out she was secretly taping their conversations.  Taking photos only seemed like typical tourist behavior.  The plan to take and record information about this family seemed like a great way to finance her career.  Having been approached by her professor to perform this seemingly easy task, she naively did not realize real danger would be involved.  A couple of weeks in a new land, sightseeing and observing these people seemed harmless to this student.  She had trusted the professor and now here she was, running for her life.

The professor put her in touch with the lighthouse keeper, who was also involved in this scheme.  She warmed to him immediately, thinking these two older men were more like grandparents than participants of intrigue.  They had set her up in the hostel belonging to the family and she was asked to get as much information about them as possible.  She was excited by the idea, both being able to visit the area, but also thinking it would be an awesome adventure.

Now she was in the middle of it.  The cold was taking a toll, but she kept on.  She thought she would be safe as soon as she reached the lighthouse.  She had forgotten her computer files which could easily have been stuffed in her pockets, but she did have her cell phone.  No reception here, but it did have the needed recordings, and photos.  She had downloaded most information to the computer.  Being ignorant of the family’s suspicions, she mistakenly left it in her room for the day.  

Coming home from an outing she felt frightened by the family’s strange behavior.  She made an excuse to leave the house that night to go into the village.  Instead she was running to the lighthouse.  It was only a short distance now.  She checked over her shoulder again.  The lights in the house were off.  Were they chasing her?  She started to panic when she heard a voice calling her from the lighthouse. 

“Helen, hurry!”  He could tell by her running in the night that she was fleeing, and had already signaled for the boat to pick her up.  He could see her coming from the tower.  Her demeanor meant she was in trouble.  He grabbed her hand and helped her into the boat.  “You’ll be okay, you’ll be safe with Joe.” The minute he spied her running, he contacted another agent to retrieve her belongings from the hostel. Joe revved up the boat’s engine and they were safely away.

She had the adventure of a lifetime but decided the life of a spy was not her cup of tea.

https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2017/06/06/photo-challenge-168/