July Writing Craze: Day 23!!!

What if I just didn't write 1000 words one day?  I feel like the comments wouldn't be too pretty.... but I won't!  I won't just not write!!  I love this blog and writing and I love all of you, so here is another 1000!
Happy reading!! :)

Chapter Nine:  Yori

Hum the Word

Bee-lining up the pavement, grasping her pink towel as hard as she could, Yori mumbled blasphemies under her breath, her bare feet taking the stabbing impact of the pebbles and sticks beneath her.  Yori could see the glorious, shining cabin of 2A coming closer into her line of sight.  Very nearly missing a kid running after a beach ball, Yori made it to the wooden porch and inside the fabulous cabin.  Yori had been running, which she rarely did, because there was no way she wanted to be spotted by the whole camp in a towel and puke orange life jacket, nor did she want to be spotted by the cretin treasure hunters.

            Gasping for breath, Yori put her thin weight on the edge of one of the bunk beds in the front room.  Yori could feel small beads of sweat drip from her chin, landing with a defyingly wet plop onto her pedicured toe nails.

            “Oh, gross,”  Yori hissed, vehemently shaking her foot until the sweat bead slipped off onto the floor.  Yori flipped her hair over her shoulder and slowly eased her way into the back room.  Seeing her silver pumps, black boots, blue and gold heels, and lavender wedges, Yori relaxed (with the exception of seeing her half broken pair of strappy heels).  Her feet would no longer have to endure a river bath of natural human perspiration.

            “Where do you think she is?”  Yori heard Kristina’s voice, dangerously close to cabin 2A.

            “I don’t—Achoo!”  Tegan sneezed, following a loud cry of disgusted exclaims.

            “Cover your mouth!”  Sapphire ordered.

            “Bless you.”  Yori knew that had to be Mallory.  Forgetting the sneezy situation, Yori changed as rapidly as she could.  Throwing on a pair of silver-glittered shorts and a breezy pink top, Yori hoped to her dying day, the girls wouldn’t enter the bedroom, mid-change.  Yori tossed the life jacket and towel in the corner, slipped into her silver pumps, knowing they weren’t close to heels, but also knowing the kids would think they were, gave her tangled hair a thorough brush, and finally, stabbed three earrings into their pierced holes.

            “I know!  Let’s check the dock!  Maybe this will turn into a water fight!”  Tegan piped up.   Four pairs of feet stampeded down the pavement.

            “I hope we can swim!”  Mallory called out.

            “I hope there’s water balloons!”  Kristina squeaked.  Relieved, Yori waited a few more moments before checking to make sure the coast was clear.  Seeing that it was, Yori grabbed her walkie-talkie in case she needed to contact Brody and Velvet, and headed towards the door.  About to leave the cabin, Yori thought of her mail.  She had read her mom’s awful letter, but not her boyfriend’s.  Was Velvet right in that he broke up with her?

            Quickly, Yori dug out her manila envelope and read Steve’s note.  And, sure thing, he broke her heart…and he knew, too.  He knew about her dad and still took what he thought was his rightfully manly liberties and choked her already breaking heart. 

            Mad, Yori ripped the letter in half, threw it to the floor, and stormed out of cabin 2A, cursing the mail system.  She wished it was back in B.D….or B.C. or whenever, when mail took fifty years to reach someone.  Maybe by then, she would have been perfectly happy with someone else.  Why does this always happen to me?  Yori thought to herself, clicking her way down the pavement.  Shoving the terrible thoughts from her circulating brain, Yori searched for Velvet or Brody.

            Yori stood in the middle of the main field before she saw Velvet’s head poking out from the office, waving frantically to Yori.  Yori waved back, happy to see a familiar face that was naïve enough to always like Yori.  Then did Yori realize, that Velvet wasn’t waving to say hello, she was waving her hands in a round-about way, the vigor in her arms as taunting as her nervous eyes.

            Yori shrugged her shoulders and lifted up her hands, palm up, as if to say ‘what in the heck are you telling me to do?’  Then, Velvet started playing charades.  Yori laughed nervously and did a check around her, like she was driving, to see if anyone saw her and the gawking actress associating with each other.

            Looking back, Yori saw Velvet on her knees, running around with her hand lining up her forehead.  Little person looking for someone… 

            Velvet started pointing to her shoes and then at Yori’s shoes.  Oh!  The kids looking for me!

            Velvet then acted out reeling in a fishing line and tying something around whatever she pulled in.  Go fishing..?

            Then Velvet started running around on her knees again, pulling at the air and lifting her arms in victory.  Suddenly, Velvet shot to her feet and ran back inside.  Yori had no idea what Velvet had been trying to…Capture the Flag!  Get the kids to play Capture the Flag!  Yori concluded.  Judging by Velvet’s panicked manic motions, Yori hurried.  She ran to the dock, her heels catching in the grass.  The polish would be so rubbed off on the underside of her platform heels, they would end up being more of a black shade than a silver. 

            “There she is!  We win!  We win!”  Tegan yelled, racing over to Yori.  “Didn’t we win, Yori?  Didn’t we?”

            “Yes, where are the boys?”  Yori said, feeling like a freaky chicken, moving her head all around, trying to find Brody’s campers.

            “Yori!  There you are!”  Matt called, jogging up to Yori who was still jerking around looking for the four little monsters.  Yori had no idea what she was doing, or why she was doing it, but all she knew was that she had to do it quick.

            “Have you seen four little boys?  Brody’s campers?”  Yori inquired, talking quickly and barely glancing at Matt.  Although, when Yori did pass by Matt’s face, she noticed his zit from registration day had healed quite a bit.  A trace of beige cover up caught Yori’s gaze a bit longer, as well.

            “Yeah, they just went to the main field.  There they are, do you see them?”  Matt answered, pointing out to four slumbering boys, dragging their feet by a bag of supplies.

            “We won, right?  What’s our prize?”  Sapphire asked, tugging on Yori’s leg.

            “Thanks Matt!  C’mon girls!”  Yori hollered and took off running to the main field.       

            “Uh…sure?”  Matt replied, feeling like a Jewish elf at Santa’s factory—confused on what he was doing.

            “Why are…we ruuunnning?”  Kristina called, her little voice getting lost in the wind.

            “We’re…gonna play…Capture the….Freaking Flag!”  Yori yelled back, her chest heaving from all the running she was doing.  Why, oh why? 

            “Those are high heels!”  one little boy camper screamed as the five girls came nearer to the other troopers.  Soon all four boys were turning around and bounding over to Yori.  Happy she had got their attention, Yori slowed down.  But as she reduced her speed to a speedy walk, she realized the boys hadn’t slowed down at all.  In fact, they all crashed right into her, shoving her to the ground.  Yori screamed as the four girl campers piled on top of Yori along with the four boys as if they all wanted to possess her.  Yori wiggled and strained, trying to push the little boogers off of her.  Yori had gotten one child off when it came to her conscious that her shoes were being ripped from her feet.  The glittery straps scraped against her skin as four boy campers wrestled them from her.

            “We’ve already won!  Yori said so!  Say so, Yori!”  the girls were yelling, batting at the boys.

            “We have the heels!”  the boys were shouting, waving Yori’s 500 dollar pumps in the air without a care.

            “Give them back, we’ve already won!”  the girls cried back, pushing into Yori’s stomach to get back on their feet.  When everyone was off of her and she had a moment of pulling it together, Yori bounced to her bare feet, grabbed her pumps from the boys, and hissed in a level and fairly quiet voice, “We’re playing Capture the Flag.”  All the campers silenced their whines and arguments, snatched up their flags, and put two pennants on each side of their playing area.

            Yori glanced at the office, able to see Velvet’s back smashed against the door, her arms spread wide, as if she was trying to keep someone from going outside.  Katie.  Katie, the evil woman who was so rude to Yori all the time, was going to suspend Yori any second.  Yori needed to go out with a punch, at least.  Yori threw her pumps to the side, only slightly wincing when she heard them land, and yelled to the eight campers, “I’m on the girl’s team!”  All four girl campers cheered and high-fived.

            “No fair!”  one of the boys complained.

            “What?  Can’t take us?”  Yori teased and made a run for the pennants on the other side.

            “Get her!”  the same boy cried.

Thanks for reading!  Hope you liked it and stay tuned!!

And remember guys:  Try to mix up your words.  Sometimes it's hard to not get stuck on saying 'good', 'bad', 'very', 'said'...plain words like that.  Those words are probably my weakest points.  Try to dance around those words, using a thesaurus.

ABC 123,

                Maddie

July Writing Craze: Day 21!!

Good evening everybody!!!  Isn't it weird to think of things in 1000s?  Like 1000 words does not seem nearly as much as 1000 balloons or 1000 pick up sticks...but it seems much more than 1000 grains of salt or 1000 atoms, don't you think?

Anyway, happy reading!!

“That’s not the right hydraulic nail attachment automatic,”  one little robot-technician kid snapped at Velvet.  Velvet dropped the tool and shrugged at Brody.  Brody dug through the red toolbox, searching for something that looked similar to the one Velvet was just holding.  Velvet wasn’t completely incompetent when it came to hands-on projects from carpentry to arts and crafts, but what the robotic kids were doing was out of her building capacity.  And apparently for Brody, too.

            “Timmy, will you get it for me?”  the same little boy squeaked.  A second boy who Velvet guessed was Timmy, dragged himself up through gravity, loped to the toolbox, and grabbed the right tool, looking menacingly at Velvet and Brody.  Still on her giggling high from ten minutes ago, Velvet let slip a chuckle.  Brody covered his mouth and turned away.  As he did, he spotted Matt pushing his way back from the woods alone. 

            “She wasn’t there?”  Brody asked, standing up and alerting Velvet who turned to face Matt as well.

            “No sign…I even hollered that there was a simple sale at the main field,”  Matt added. 

            “A ‘simple sale?’  You mean a sample sale,”  Velvet corrected him.

            “Matt!”  Timmy called.  “Look what we figured out!”  Timmy pressed a button on his black remote control and the red robot snapped to life.  It extended its creaky arms and started rocking around and around on his rectangular heels. 

            “He looks like he’s dancing,”  Brody commented.

            “More like he’s skiing behind a boat or something,”  Matt remarked, admiring the children’s work.

            “That’s it!”  Velvet piped up, her face lighting up.  “C’mon!”  She grabbed Brody’s hand and pulled him toward the far end of the dock where all the unused boats were being stored.  “Thanks Matt!”

            “Uh…sure?”  he called back and crouched down to eye level with the mechanical machine.

            “Where are we going Velvet?”  Brody asked, his words shortened from the fast speed Velvet was pulling him at.

            “The boats!  My boat might be stored and not used today.  I bet she went there…no one looks in the boats.  They just dock them there and wait for someone else to use them, right?”  Velvet responded, slowly down as she reached the rows and rows of speed boats and row boats and kayaks.  However, she made a point to not let go of Brody’s hand.  He didn’t seem to mind and Velvet hoped her hot cheeks wouldn’t show red.

            “That’s genius!  The boats go totally unnoticed,”  Brody remarked as they stepped onto the wooden and beige carpeted dock aisle.

            “I’ll check my boat, you check yours.  If she’s not in either, look in others, okay?”  Velvet directed.  They were about to depart, turning to go in different ways, when they realized their hands were still attached.  Unwinding her fingers from Brody’s, Velvet knew for a fact her cheeks were burning a volcano crimson.

            “Okay, I’m…gonna…go,”  Brody stammered and then quickly turned and left.  Smiling to herself, Velvet turned and left, too.

            Checking on the cushions and floors of each boat she passed, Velvet felt her heart start to flutter.  Where was Yori?  What if she couldn’t find her?  What if the time ran out and Katie found her first?  Velvet checked her wrist watch; she had one hour and fifteen minutes left to find Yori before Katie would break the news.  Velvet sped up her pace, her eyes barely glazing over the insides of each boat, hoping to see the faintest shade of a figure.  Velvet saw nothing and she was nearing the end of the first aisle.  She only had one aisle left and most of the it was occupied by jet skis and wave runners.  Velvet took a big swallow and a big breath before turning the corner for the second and last aisle.  Five speed boats were lined up in front of her.  She looked back at Brody who was jogging up his end of aisles, nodding his head in and out of the boats, obviously not having found a thing.  Velvet walked up to the first boat.  Nothing.  Second boat.  Zip.  Third boat.  Nada.  Fourth boat.  Zero.

            “C’mon, Yori.  Where are you?”  Velvet murmured to herself.  Velvet left the fourth boat and headed to the fifth boat.  And…no—

            “Missed me,”  Velvet heard a voice chime.  It was Yori’s.  Whipping around, Velvet ran over to the fourth boat where Yori’s head was poking out of.  Yori looked really awful.   Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot, her cheeks were streaked with dirty marks, and her head was topped off with a frizzy and tangled mane.  The orange life jacket that was strapped to Yori over her pink towel wasn’t particularly flattering either.

            “Yori!  Thank god I found you!”  Velvet cried out, slamming her hands down on the rim of the boat.  “Brody!  I found her!”  Brody looked over and jogged up to the two girls.

            “Hi, Brody,”  Yori said softly when Brody came up.  He waved and Velvet could feel the immense awkwardness seeping through the air.

            “It looks like you’ve already been told, Yori,”  Velvet diverted the tension and referencing Yori’s terrible appearance.  “I didn’t think you would take it so hard.”  Yori looked at Velvet funny and then sunk down in the boat, sighing.  Looking at Brody, Velvet was really surprised.  Shrugging, the two climbed in the boat after Yori and sat down on either side of her.  The hard floor of the boat wasn’t welcoming but Velvet was willing to stick it out for a few moments.

            “We wanted to warn you,”  Brody added.  Yori scrunched up her eyebrows.

            “Warn me?”  Yori asked.

            “Yeah, we wanted to cushion the fall before you were told the news,”  Velvet replied.

            “How would you know, though?”  Yori questioned.

            “She told me and I told Brody,”  Velvet commented.

            “How does she know you?”  Yori inquired, looking stunned.  Glancing at Brody, Velvet sensed miscommunication.

            “She’s the head counselor…” Velvet said tentatively.

            “Wait, what are you talking about?”  Yori asked, looking exhausted from the brief conversation.

            “You being suspended from Camp Sing-Song…what are you talking about?”  Velvet answered.

            “I’m being suspended from Camp Sing-Song?!”  Yori snapped, startling Brody and Velvet.

            “Well, yes…isn’t that the news you were told?”  Brody responded.

            “I thought you were talking about…my…”

            “What?”

            “My dad.”

            “No…is everything okay with your dad?”  Velvet responded, flashing back to the shower that morning.

            “Why am I being suspended?”  Yori asked, ignoring Velvet’s question.  Silent for a moment, Velvet thought.  Why was Yori avoiding the conversation about her dad?

            “You were in the woods and someone saw you.  The woods are off limits,”  Brody said, guilt flooding his face.  He apparently felt bad for Yori.  Velvet knew how much Camp Sing-Song meant to Brody and knew he wanted everyone to experience its fun.

            “I wasn’t in the woods…I wouldn’t go in the filthy woods no matter how upset I was,”  Yori snapped.

            “But…Katie said—“

            “Well, Katie is wrong,”  Yori barked.  “Not that I…care that much about staying at this stupid camp…”  Yori finished, looking down at her feet.

            “Sure,”  Velvet teased, smiling at Brody.

Still hanging on?  The end is coming soon!

And remember guys:  Take time to describe things.  Sometimes I skip over small details and when I go back to reread what I've written, I feel like I've missed out as a reader.  Description is essential and can really make the book.

July Writing Craze: Day 17!!

Day 17 everyone!  Hope you're still with me :)

“Why couldn’t we have stayed more?”  Sapphire asked as the five of them trudged up the pavement from the rec room to cabin 2A.

            “It was just time to go,”  Yori replied, unsticking her trapped mascara-coated lashes.  A streak of black liquid mascara stained her pointer finger manicure. 

            “Where did Brody go?”  Mallory questioned.

            “He…got tired,”  Yori responded, scratching at the black streak of makeup.

            “He seemed mad,”  Mallory commented.  Ready to burst out in a cascade of insults, Yori turned to look at Mallory, the one camper that reminded Yori of herself.  Mallory stared up at Yori, her black and gray hair spilling over her caved in shoulders.  Mallory wasn’t smiling or frowning.  Her lips were in a straight line and her eyes showed no concern, just curiosity. 

            “Brody…was mad,”  Yori finally replied, turning back around.

            “Why?”  Tegan piped up, running up in front of Yori and strutting backward so she could look at Yori face-on.

            “I made a mistake,”  Yori said, trying to convince herself.  Did she make a mistake?  Or was the whole relationship already a mistaken lie? 

            “What did you do?”  Mallory inquired.  Yori tightened the sash on her robe and cuffed the perfect edges of the sleeves.

            “I said something…not nice,”  Yori explained, suddenly coming to the realization that she was being soft.  But she didn’t care, no, being gentle was a major stress relief.  Not having to think of bitter stories and lies made Yori feel a little bit better about everything.

            “Mean?”  Kristina said softly as she took the porch steps one step with two feet at a time.

            “Yes, it was mean.  I shouldn’t have said it.  Since I didn’t have anything nice to say, I—“

            “Shouldn’t have said it at all?”  Velvet’s voice finished from the back room.  Yori sighed, her minty lip gloss floating through the room.  The room smelled like cherry mint tea for a moment before Yori replied, “I wasn’t talking to you or about you.”

            “She was talking about Brody,”  Sapphire said, crawling into her bed, her little eyelids slowly folding in.  Velvet appeared in the front room, her blonde hair perfectly did up in a “sleepy” bun.  She had a small touch of blush on her upper cheeks and her lips looked recently glossed.  Yori could also smell her own personal  lavender perfume that she put in the back of her cosmetic bag, in case she ran out of her others.  Lavender was not a good fragrance for Yori…or for Velvet, for that matter.

            “You’re back early…everything go okay?”  Velvet asked, rolling up the blankets to Sapphire’s neck as her eyes finally allowed themselves to shut close and give in to sleep.

            “Don’t worry about it, Velvet,”  Yori responded, tucking in Mallory.  Yori felt the same, or even worse, about Velvet for some reason.  On top of the regret of breaking her own heart, Yori also despised the situation for practically handing Brody over to Velvet.  Velvet would cherish the moments she had with Brody just like Yori had done; it would be torture and Yori hated the fact that she had brought it all on herself.  Yori would never forgive herself for letting her emotions get in front of a cute boyfriend.  Yori had given herself away to her thoughts of why Brody liked her for her personality and why her past boyfriends hadn’t and the results weren’t pretty.

            After every camper was in bed, fully asleep, the chests heaving up and down amidst their dreams, Velvet and Yori went into the back room.  Yori slipped off her robe, bundled it up, threw it in the corner, and flicked off her slippers to add to the pile in the corner.  Yori was feeling awful and dare she say, ugly.  Her lips felt chapped, she could feel a spot of oil on her scalp, and she could feel her facial skin stretch under the tension and stress that she with held.  And to think she thought she could release herself with a bunch of kids.  No, she had seen Velvet and realized what she had done.  It was over.

            Yori and Velvet both lay in their beds, the lights off, and knowing the other was not asleep.  Yori lay on her side, facing the wall, getting a strong whiff of potpourri.  Her eyes were wide open, her lashes beating up and down like a tireless bird.

            “Velvet?  When you opened my mail was there a letter from my mom?”  Yori was almost grateful when she heard Velvet had opened her mail, that way Yori wouldn’t have to face the news about her dad first.

            “Your mom?  Yes…”  Yori could tell Velvet felt like she was being played.

            “Don’t worry, Velvet, I’m not tricking you.  I just need to know if, if you read the letter, if my mom said anything about my dad…”  Yori trailed off, hoping she would fall asleep before the answer could come out of Velvet’s mouth.

            “I did read it…”  Velvet started off uneasily.  “But it didn’t say anything specifically about your dad.  It said something about Ghazni…”  Yori’s heart started to flutter and she felt it turning over, skipping beat after beat.

            “She said…there wasn’t…I don’t know.  Why don’t you just read it yourself?”  Velvet replied, clearly not understanding Yori’s intentions.  Yori couldn’t stand the heart-wrenching anticipation.  She jumped form her bed, lifted her mattress, pulled out the manila envelope, and dug out the letter from her mother.  She unfolded the letter, closed her eyes, and took a huge yoga breath, a sharp intake. 

            Her eyes grazed over the lines quickly and nervously, but she knew right away from the first line that the news wasn’t good.  And the news could only have been one or the other—good or bad.

            Yori let the letter fall from her shaking hands, watching the paper flutter to the wood floor.  She didn’t get a chance to see it touch the floor before her eyes filled with death-defying tears.  Yori couldn’t distinguish what happened next.  Velvet was saying something, her knees hurt from the drop to the ground, her shouts woke the campers, the strain from her sobbing jaw hurt all the way up from her throat to her ears, and the tears soaked the letter that her face was lying against.  Now it was over. 

Thanks for reading! 

And remember guys:  People always say readers like to read what they can relate to, but I don't really.  Find something you like to read, not necessairly relate to, and try to match that in your writing.

July Writing Craze: Day 15!!

Today is the halfway mark for July Writing Craze!!! Thank you all soooo much for all your support! :)
Enjoy!

“Go to sleep, you guys,”  Velvet called, titling back the green curtain, giving the four campers a reason to scream and scamper.  “We’ll be playing an early game of Capture The Flag tomorrow.”  Velvet went back into her room where Yori was already laying in her bed, flipping through a People magazine.

            “What are you reading?”  Velvet asked nonchalantly, pulling back her hair into a loose bun.  Yori flipped to the next page in her magazine, scanning through the pictures and captions.  Her manicured nails strummed lightly against the covers of the mag.  The crinkling of the flimsy paper and the muttering of the little troopers in the next room edged at Velvet’s mind.  The mix of negative emotions was getting to her.  She was feeling ire with a twinge of guilt from trespassing Yori twice in one day.

            “I put your mail back where I found it,”  Velvet tried again, grabbing her book from the floor beside her bed.  Yori closed her magazine, reached for her bag under her bed, and selected a nail file, proceeding to file her nails.

            “Okay, I get it.  You’re mad.  I still don’t think you should be doing what you are,”  Velvet commented, fluffing her pillows.

            “Velvet!  Can we go to the rec room for pudding?”  Sapphire cried out from the other room, her little feet appearing underneath the green curtain.  A small hand poked through the slit in the curtain and soon a short-haired head stuck out into the counselor room.

            “Sapphire, we can’t.  It’s time for bed, actually it has been time for bed for the past thirty minutes.  Bed, now,”  Velvet commanded, growing a little tired of the tedious routine of trying to get the campers to sleep.

            “Please, Velvet?  Can we go for tapioca, then?  Please!  Everyone wants to go,”  Sapphire persisted.  Velvet wanted to talk to Yori alone even though chocolate pudding sounded pretty tasty.

            “I’m going to sleep,”  Velvet said simply, demonstrating by tucking herself into bed.  Sapphire sighed in disappointment and turned to leave.

            “Why ask Velvet?”  Yori piped up, throwing her blankets off her legs and standing up.  “I’m up for it.”  Sapphire’s face lit up.

            “Yes!  You guys, Yori is going to take us!”  Sapphire hollered to the other girls, running into the front room.  Yori hurried to her makeup case, rapidly coating her brushes with natural colors and then doing up her face with them.

            “We’re just gonna get dressed,”  Mallory called into the counselor room.

            “Don’t bother.  Just put on some slippers,”  Yori called back, setting down her brushes so she could drape her silk lavender robe over her shoulders.

            “Yori.  They need to go to—“

            “Yori, you’re the best!  Do you think the air hockey table will be plugged in?”  Tegan said, pinning back the green curtain.

            “I don’t know about you, but I know how to plug in a cord,”  Yori responded as she combed through her hair and gave it a messy toss.  Tegan grinned.  Velvet could feel the surge of jealousy creeping up her throat.

            “Yori, did you tell Brody I was sick yesterday?”  Velvet demanded Yori, grasping at something to keep herself from plain exploding.

            “Of course not, Velvet,”  Yori taunted super-sweetly.  “I told him that today.”  Velvet swallowed, hoping her jealousy would go down too.  After spritzing some perfume on her, Yori popped a breath mint in her mouth and looked through the green curtain.

            “Ready to go, guys?”  Yori called.  “Oh, Velvet?  Can I ask you something?”  Yori asked before she left.

            “What, Yori?  What could you possibly want from me?  After you’ve taken Brody from me, you’ve taken my campers from me, you’ve made lies up about me, and you’ve ignored me, taunted me, and insulted me…all because you need to keep a guy for yourself, you want to tell me ask me something!  Oh, pray tell, what you must ask me.”

            Yori’s lips curled up into a tormented little simper, her head falling limply to one side.  She slowly closed her eyes in a blink and when they opened, Yori shook her head, her black hair tossing from side to side.

            “Brody’s in 4B, right?  I think I’ll get him and his little campers to come too,”  she said.  Velvet’s heart burned.  How was it, that all the suck in the world could be bottled up and shoved into one person?  The one person being the one Velvet had to spend the two weeks that were supposed to be the best days of her life with?!

            “Can I ask you something Yori?”  Velvet said, surprised by how calm her tone was.

            “Go for it,”  Yori replied, taking a deep breath, her smile still goading.

            “How do you live with yourself, being so…mean and…difficult?”  Velvet spat out, staring at Yori’s feet, fearing she would slap Yori if she looked her in the eyes.

            “Live with myself?”  Yori asked, in a completely serious and sober voice.  “It’s harder than you would think.”  Velvet snapped her head up to meet Yori’s eye level,  expecting to see a disgustingly smug, obnoxiously righteous, and utterly sarcastic expression.  Velvet did a retake when she saw how solemn Yori appeared, her wavering eyes darting within Velvet’s.

            “Don’t be so hard on yourself,”  Velvet heard herself say.  Her body suddenly felt very achy as if all the fighting and tension between her and Yori had lifted off of Velvet’s body, leaving a painfully sore repercussion.  Was it over?  Was all the fighting done?  Could Velvet finally relax after all the guilt and jealousy and betrayal and immoral undertaking she had to go through?  Was Yori coming around to be—

            “So, it is 4B?  Oh, never mind.  I’ll find him, you get some rest, I can see the bags under your eyes forming already.  C’mon girls!  Who’s the best counselor?”  Yori interjected, whirling around and flouncing off in her nightgown, robe, and slippers, looking more like a Grecian goddess than someone who just hopped out of bed.

            Velvet flopped down on her bed, cursing herself for thinking anything had been resolved, especially as the cheers and praise for Yori echoed through the cabin.

Thanks for reading!  And thank you for coming halfway with me! :)

And remember guys:  "Most of the material a writer works with, is aquired before the age of fifteen."    -Willa Cather
ABC 123,
                Maddie

July Writing Craze: Day 12!!

Hey guys!  Ready for another 1000 words?  Well, here they are!! :)

“Cannonball!”  Tegan yelled, bombing into the lake.  Velvet hooked up the boat and checked for all the wakeboards, skis, and lifejackets as Yori had the lovely task of lifeguarding the campers.  The Water Sports course would last two hours, leaving one hour before lunch for everyone to shower up.

            Thrown back from Velvet’s putdown, Yori fidgeted with her white, ruffled bikini bottom and straightened the white bikini top.  Yori hadn’t had time to open her manila envelope of mail, but she was dying to hear from her mom.  Her mom would have news on her dad and maybe after Yori read the letter, she could relax.  Or, once she read the letter, she could break down.  It was a pretty 50-50 chance.

            “Are you watching them?”  Velvet snapped, lifting a plastic lid.  “Tell them we’re ready.”

            “Okay guys!”  Yori yelled, clapping her hands.  “Guys!  Guys!  GUYS!”  The four girls gave in to treading water to listen to what Yori had to say.

            “Boat’s ready!  Hop in,”  Yori said and the four girls scampered out of the water to get into the boat first.  Yori got in last, giving one last check around the dock for Brody.  Right before Velvet zoomed away, Yori found Brody and his boys at the far end of the dock by the main office.  They were just getting in their boat, too.  The name of Brody’s boat was Melody.  Keeping that name in the back of her mind—front of her mind—Yori made sure to look involved and helpful.

            As the two hours went by, Velvet drove the boat as Yori helped the girls into their equipment.  Velvet would also give them pointers as Yori nodded her head in agreement as she kept an eye out for Brody.  In the last twenty minutes of the class, they decided to take one last trip around the lake, just cruising in the boat.

            “We’re almost out of gas, but I think we can make it,”  Velvet commented and turned the engine on, the revving sounds startling Yori.  Velvet laughed at Yori and put the gas full on.  Yori screamed at the first jolt forward, feeling like she had left her insides ten yards back where they had just been.  The ride was nice for Yori.  The whipping wind and bumpy waves kept Yori’s mind off her dad…instead she tried to focus on not throwing up.  She couldn’t “copy” Velvet.  Bump, bump… Yori thought, trying to smile, but the wind pressing down her cheekbones.  Bump, bump…put-put….pssshhh….

            “What the…?”  Yori mumbled to herself, snapping out of her reverie, her body calming down from the rapid speed.

            “We’re out of gas,”  Velvet stated, looking at the monitor.

            “How far out are we?”  Yori asked, shielding her eyes form the sun with her hand.

            “Pretty far, get that orange flag and wave another boat down,”  Velvet ordered, pointing the flag on the seat beside her.  Yori grabbed it and scanned the empty lake for Melody, hoping Brody would come to help.

            “Okay, girls.  We’re out of gas, but it’s okay.  Someone will come and help us very…”  Yori heard Velvet say sweetly to the supposedly-worried girls.  Yori knew they would be just fine.  They had their cotton towels, their Camp Sing-Song water bottles, and their visors that pretty much covered their whole face.  Waving the flag vigourously, Yori started getting warm.  She had put on sunscreen, but she would not allow an uneven tan.

            “Is there any kind of covering around here?”  Yori barked at Velvet, letting her arm droop a little.  Velvet snatched the flag from Yori, held it up high, and shook her head rudely at Yori.

            “All you had to say was ‘no’,”  Yori growled and sat down on the warm, ripping cushion, shading her face from the sun.

            “There’s a boat!  There’s a boat!”  Mallory yelled out, pointing.  Sure enough, a blue and gray boat was coming right toward theirs, putting along slowly.

            “Out of gas?”  someone called.  Still shielding her face, Yori couldn’t see or recognize by the voice who it was.

            “Oh, Brody!  Thank god you came!”  Velvet called out, shoving the flag to Yori who let it drop to the floor.

            “Here, I’ll hook you up to my boat,”  Brody said and anchored the boat to his easily and quickly.  “I’m surprised you came out on the water today since you…were sick last night,”  Brody whispered to Velvet, but Yori could hear perfectly fine.  The campers were too busy jumping from boat to boat with the other little boy campers to hear.  Yori snickered as Velvet’s face turned to confused and embarrassed emotions.  Before Velvet could reply, Brody hollered out, “Pick a boat!  We’re going in!”  Velvet stayed back in the original boat, stunned and bewildered (or so she looked) by Brody’s comment.  Yori jumped in his boat just as he was driving off, prohibiting Velvet to jump in, too.

            “Do you like driving a boat?!”  Yori yelled, her voice trying to break through the wind.  Brody shook his head and shrugged.  “No?  Would you teach me then?”  Brody smiled and made some room on his seat for her.  Yori looked back at Velvet right before she sat down and smirked.  Velvet could have had smoke burning from her ears.  The drive back in was too short, Yori could have driven for the whole day, right next to Brody, his arms guiding hers. 

            When both boats were hooked up and everyone was on the dock, Yori gave Brody a peck on the cheek to thank him.  His skin was silky soft and even his cheekbones were muscular.

            “Sure thing.  Say, do you wanna come with me to get my camp uniform.  I forgot to get it and I need it by this evening,”  Brody offered, smiling at Yori. 

            “Sure,”  Yori answered.  “Velvet!”  Yori called, but Velvet was right there, her cheeks rosy, her eyes twitching, and her eyebrows narrowed.  She had seen and heard the whole thing.  Thank god!

            “Will you take the kids up, I’m gonna spend some time with Brody,”  Yori used her best taunting voice.  “Plus, I don’t want you to get sick again.”  Brody gave Velvet a sympathetic look, wrapped his arm around Yori’s shoulder, and the two strode off.

Thanks for reading!

And remember guys:  Bad experiences are great for writing! :)