Robyn Batch 10 - Pecan shortbread

HAPPY 100th POST!

71. Broken:  Robyn cried out in pain as she collapsed to the ground.  She had known she was coming down wrong and now she could feel her heartbeat throbbing in her foot, mostly centered around her outer toes.  Taking a few deep breaths, she tried to rise but ended up back on her butt on the floor with a grunt.  She focused on her breathing until Madame Jacobs arrived to help her up and to one of the chairs at the edge of the practice room.  Ice was applied, medication was taken, mothers were called, and two weeks later she danced, broken toes be darned.

     Seriously folks, anyone have a better name for her dance teacher?  Updated her dance teacher's name to Camille Elizabeth Smythe-Jacobs on 16.June.2013.  And I'm only guessing how it feels to break toes as I have never broken any bone.  I've sprained my ankles and jammed fingers more times than I can count but no breaks!

87. Life:  “To life, to life, l'chaim!  To Zeytle, my daughter!”

    “My wife!”

    “Life has a way of confusing us, blessing and bruising us!  Drink l’chaim, to life!”

    Robyn and her fellow chorus members danced around, arms linked, laughing and singing.  They had stayed after school for an extra practice before the performance, and now they were amusing themselves while waiting for their parents to pick them up by singing show tunes.  So far they had jumped through CATS, Fiddler on the Roof, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, and Seussical.

     This may or may not be based on true life.  I admit to nothing.  Lyrics belong to Sheldon Harnick and those associated with Fiddler on the Roof.

98. Pride:  Stephanie soared through the song she had been given, nailing every note and emoting through every line.  When she took her bow the panel of judges and the staff that were hanging about all applauded.  It stung Robyn to note that the response was louder than it had been for her own audition a few minutes earlier.  Logically she knew that the older girl had more experience and was devoted to only one craft, but emotionally it still rankled Robyn to not be the clear favorite, and to someone who simply viewed it as another job (not that Robyn would ever admit to such petty feelings).

     One of my biggest pet peeves in high school was people joining choir just for the A.  They had no passion and because they weren't emotionally invested in the songs they goofed off and brought down the morale of the choir.  They were snide and snarky and didn't take things seriously.  Some days I wanted to tear out their hair for making me want to tear out mine.

99. Prejudice:  Robyn looked Jericho up and down.  Henry had just told her that the young man would be their new contact and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that.  She had heard stories about Jericho, how his father was never up to any good, always off on some half drunken scheme (after a failed marriage Keith Moran was looking for something to make him feel successful again but his sons had to bail him out, which only made him feel worse), and his brother was in some bigger city, dabbling in crime and living off the good graces of the bad (OK, Gaven lived on the edge but most of his income was from honest car repairs).  Jericho himself had been a loner for the most part in high school, not fitting into any clique (all those people who didn’t know what they wanted and put up idiotic fronts to fit in).  He now went to college but she wasn’t sure how he had gotten there (scholarships and grants, and how would it change her opinion if she knew he was majoring in accounting and passing all his classes with As and Bs).  She had seen him around town in his old, classic, black Mustang or riding his slick motorcycle (earned penny by penny from odd jobs and restored with loving care).  She questioned why Henry would hire him, or at the very least trust him alone with her (because he knew how to treat women and once she was seen with him any bad element would leave her alone, though the ‘good’ element might be another matter).  She had seen the handful of girls Jericho had dated and quite frankly she wasn’t impressed (girls who hid their insecurities better than most, or had an idea where they were going).

     The parentheses were not there to begin with but I think they add a nice flavor and depth.  What do you think?

154. Tower:  It would probably always be Robyn’s favorite trip ever.  She had been newly sixteen and therefore able to fly by herself so her aunt and uncle Buchanan had invited her, and her alone out of family, to go on a European tour with them.  Robyn  said yes in a heartbeat and spent the next month doing all she could to convince her parents  she would be responsible and good and obedient.  In the end they had relented (they were going to say yes anyways but Robyn had been so helpful they decided to milk it) and Dawn and Elizabeth could barely understand the words in her squealing phone call but perfectly read the tone and dissolved into squeals themselves.  The family of four plus their two add-ons (they also invited their best chum Adiana) toured Ireland, Germany, Italy, Scotland, and ended in France, with a view of the Eiffel Tower and crepes every morning.  She had grown closer to her aunt, uncle, and cousins and made memories to last a lifetime and a half.

    Who else wishes they had family in Europe now?

Robyn Batch 9 - Coconut Macaroon

20. Colorless:  She floated in a void, lacking sound and color and sensation and, strangely, emotion.  She was aware that there were people around her and some part of her knew that they were speaking because their lips were moving but no sound issued from their grey lips.  It was nearly two days before color seeped back in and sound rushed to assault her ears.  She barely felt Austin’s touch as he hovered near her but her heart was still numb.  She wasn’t sure if that could ever recover from the loss of her grandfather.

42. Triangle:  From the beginning it had been Austin and Robyn, Oz and Bobbie.  Wherever one was the other wasn’t far behind (and if one had caused trouble, chances were the other was simply hadn’t been caught).  Then Talulah had moved into town and into their fourth grade class.  Talulah had been painfully shy and withdrawn from living in her sister’s shadow in a high pressure family but Robyn would have none of that.  She currently had an opening for a female best friend (her previous one had committed some sort of unforgivable offense like trying to kiss or exclude Austin) and Talulah fit the bill.  Best of all, Talulah and Austin hit it off and RAT was formed.  Slowly the shy, dark haired girl blossomed with two fast friends to encourage her, defend her, and vent to.  Then, in their junior year of high school Robyn’s two best friends finally admitted their feelings for each other, even if they didn’t officially start dating until senior year.  Most of the time Robyn couldn’t have been more thrilled (she and Austin had thought about it at one point but it was like kissing a sibling), but then there were moments where she would admit she was insanely jealous.  Tal and Oz were made for each other and very happy together and Robyn wished she could have the same happiness, someone as perfect for her as those two, especially when they went on dates.  Robyn dated once or twice, boys from the productions she was in, but when the play or musical was over, so was the storm of emotions and the relationships fizzled.  She hated feeling like the third wheel but she never allowed it to affect her friendship with Oz and Tal.

115. Silence:  Robyn knew that something wasn’t right because of the silence permeating the forest.  None of the animals were making their usual noises, no birdsong rang through the trees.  She hadn’t noticed the quiet growing as she read the latest book from her favorite horse book author but when she looked up she realized what the animals had known some time ago.  Dark, angry clouds filled the sky and a gust of cold, sea scented air rattled the trees above her, a breath of the storm flicking down into her clearing and chilling her. 

170. 67 Percent:  Robyn’s heart sank as she received her latest physics paper and she couldn’t help but let out a disappointed and dejected sigh.  This did not bode well for her final grade.  If she passed the class, at this point it would be with a C at best, at worst she would have to take it again, along with another science class to hedge her bets and assure that she had enough science credits to graduate.  Physics had seemed so easy in middle school and was easy in application but combining the math to calculate when things returned just didn’t seem to sink in. 

56. Breakfast:  At one time Robyn imagined she might not have enjoyed eating breakfast in the morning but she had been in dance so long she couldn’t remember the time.  It was important to her to start off the day in the best way possible, which for her was an egg scrambled with extra whites, a smoothie with added protein and calcium, and a strip of bacon.

     It was so hard coming up with something for this prompt but there ya go!  Thanks Joey Graceffa, I borrowed your trainer suggested breakfast routine.

Robyn Batch 8 - Molasses

63. Summer:  The wedding was beautiful.  The day dawned bright and clear, small white clouds adding to the character of the blue sky, matching the flowing white dress of the bride.  The sun shone clearly on the guests at the reception on the beach and Oregon was surprisingly kind on the new couple.

     Who is getting married?  Dunno.  I could see Robyn having a summer wedding, though she is one of the few.  Most of my characters and I are autumn wedding sorts.

 

125. Trouble Lurking:  Robyn held her breath as she held her position.  Somewhere out there in the darkness was something or someone out to get her.  She had heard rocks move and a branch snap, a sign that these were not people used to stalking in nature, but rather in more man made environs.  when she felt she had frozen for long enough she slow counted to fifteen, listening.  There!  And it had paid off.  The scuff of a shoe to her left told her where her hunter was and she was off, edging silently to the right.

     Dun dun DUN!!

144. Two Roads:  Robyn was only six when she discovered the path that led to her secret hideaway.  It had begun with a fascination with animals and the paths they wore into the ground, subtle to all but the discerning eye.  She would follow the faint trails here and there through the local woods when she was supposed to be doing chores or studying or helping her aunt, who would forgive a child’s inquisitiveness and love of nature.  If she came upon a branch in the trail she was following she would take the one most travelled, or if they were equally worn, the one to the left, returning after finding the end, or the next day, to take the other fork.  Soon these became as easily identifiable to her as streets with signs to adults as she methodically mapped the trails in her head and sometimes on a map she hid in her favorite horse book.

     She hasn't yet discovered the magic of mirrors.  :)  I did quite a bit of research about The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost and thought about tying it in, but in the end, the poem had nothing to do with the final product.

50. Spade:    “Honey, where are you going with that?” asked Craig Tolliver as his young daughter walked by, hauling behind her a shovel that was nearly as tall as she was.

    “Austin and I are digging a hole,” Robyn said, not stopping as she continued across the yard.  (If she didn’t stop maybe he wouldn’t stop her or ask anymore questions).

“Where are you digging this hole?” Craig’s ‘father senses’ were tingling.  This was no ordinary hole.  Not that any hole from those two would be ordinary.

“In the woods,” Robyn didn’t seem deterred by the fact that her father was following her down the street.

“Why?”

Robyn finally stopped with an exasperated sigh and turned to face her father.  She propped the shovel on her shoulder and hip as she planted her hands on her hips and began to explain with exaggerated patience.

“Austin has been taking care of a baby bird that fell out of it’s nest.  It died last night so we are going to bury it.  He’s bringing the box and the Bible and I’m bringing the shovel and flowers.”

Robyn indicated the daisies and dandelions from their yard and lavender and rose bloom, likely from Mrs. Carlyle's, sticking out of her back pocket.

“I see … may I come along?”

“Only if Austin says yes.” 

DAWW! ^_^

178. Thirst:  Young Robyn stood before the audience, her auburn hair slicked back into a ballerina’s top knot, her lean dancer’s body clad in a form fitting, pink leotard and gauzy pink tulle skirt.  She was positioned as she ought to be for the beginning of her routine, left leg extended at a 45 degree angle, left arm reaching to the side and behind, right leg supporting her weight and right arm extended to reach the lights above.  Despite all this physical perfection though, all she could think about was the icy, condensated, cold water bottle she had turned down from the mother backstage.

     I don't know how well this describes the pose in my head, I was sitting at a library computer and wasn't going to start contorting myself.  :)

195. Advertisement:  She couldn’t believe the gall of the man.  There, just outside of the Peacock Lounge back door was a notice, an advertisement, asking for singers to apply to the new club that was slated to open, The Labyrinth!  The Boss was coming in and trying to take over the town, she knew it, and he wasn’t being totally subtle about it either.

Robyn Batch 7 - Orange macaroons

12. Orange:  She was astonished at the gourmet feast spread before her.  Chicken garnished with oranges and some kind of herb, green beans sprinkled with sesame seeds and crumbled cheese, and bread (store bought but heated in the oven, buttered and sprinkled with herbs) were attractively placed on the table.  “Jericho, I didn’t know you could cook like this!  This is amazing!”

     Jericho is turning into the perfect man.  He has a classic Mustang, a motorcycle, an Irish Wolfhound, can play the guitar well enough to pick out a tune, and can cook really well.  -sigh-  Become real and wait a couple years?

     Swooning aside, I based this on iJustine's boyfriend Ryan aka Fwiz.  He makes the most amazing things that look like they are straight from the Food Network or Cooking Channel, which I would not have expected considering he is known for his gaming.  The two do not naturally/automatically co-exist in my head which makes his considerable talent that much more awesome.

33. Too much:  “Robyn, that is enough.  You need to take a break right now.”  Madame Jacobs stood firm, walking stick held firmly in her hands before her like Madame Giry.

“I know I can get this move!” Robyn cried, frustrated, as she began to go through the movements of the dance she was rehearsing.  The sequence of moves normally wouldn’t have been all that difficult for her but she had recently begun working, on top of her vocal lessons, homework, and the production of both a play for school and the local theater company, along with this, preparing for the upcoming dance revue.  She was spread thin, working at physical things until mid evening, then working on her school work into the night and early morning hours.

“Robyn, you are tired and not thinking clearly.  Take a break.”  Madame Jacobs instructed but before she could finish speaking the young auburn haired ingenue fell to the ground.

A weakness!  Robyn doesn't know when to quit and is very much an overachiever.

67. Snow:  The three siblings shrieked and ducked and flung themselves about in the thick coating of white powder.  The weather people the night before hadn’t been optimistic about them getting any of the snow that had been brewing near the mountains, after all, this was the coast, but they, and all of Aurelia, had awoken to a thick layer of fluffy white snow coating the town, shutting down school, most businesses, and trapping tourists for at least the day.  

105. Seeking Solace:  Robyn could classify periods in her life based on who she turned to for comfort and support with her problems.  Early in her life, it was naturally her parents to whom she turned when she fell or had a fight with a friend or was worried about something that happened.  Around six or seven she began relying more on her grandparents, then transitioned into Austin by age twelve or thirteen.  At this point any girly problems she confided in Mrs. Rosamund but Austen and Talulah were her main confidants.  Now she found herself in a startling and confusing quandary, possibly at the beginning of a new phase; she was torn between fleeing to the comforting presences of her two best friends and turning to her silent, dark, and handsome assigned protector.  

160. Rejection:  Robyn’s shoulders slumped and her head fell, tears already welling in her eyes.  She had seen it coming in some ways but hadn’t wanted to believe it.  Still, she had to ask.  “You’re sure?”

“Yes,” Blake said.  “I want to break up with you, I am breaking up with you.  I don’t think this is working out and I think you see it too.  We don’t have time for each other and we don’t have enough in common anymore.”

     They had been dating for nearly two years now after meeting in theater class their sophomore year but gradually over their junior year Blake had become more and more involved in sports, track and field, football, and tennis, as Robyn became more and more involved in choir and theater.  He was right, they barely saw each other and their social and interest spheres no longer intersected much anymore, but she had been willing to try.  It seemed he no longer was. 

     ... she had a boyfriend?  Cool!  Most of the time my characters are smart enough to not date in high school but I thought I'd make her more typical and imperfect.  :)

100. Persuasion:  Boss swept into town and did his best to sweep Robyn off her feet.  The Labyrinth club was designed around what his men had been able to glean about her likes and dislikes and music styled around the theme and what she enjoyed.  To his great frustration though, he didn’t factor in her loyalty to Henry Sterne, Aurelia, and her steel backbone when her friends were threatened.

     He doesn't have a name yet so he is just "Boss".

 

83. And:  “Yes it goes on and on my friends.  Some people started singing it not knowing what it was and they’ll continue singing it forever just because it the song that never ends.  Yes it goes on and on my friends.”  Robyn danced around her friends in circles singing loudly and grinning like a fool.

     “I told you she shouldn't have had that second Mountain Dew,” Talulah grumped at Austin who merely grinned winningly back at her.

     Austin is a combination of Landon Austin, Bradley Cooper, and a touch of Martin Freeman and Steve Zhan.  Imagine that grinning back at you.  You aren't going to stay mad for long!  ^_^

Robyn Batch 6 - No bakes

60. Drink:  Robyn could handle her alcohol, except for tequila.  True to the song, nothing hit her like tequila and her clothes did tend to ... shed.

     Based on the song Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off by Joe Nichols.  Thank you country radio!

199. Solitude:  No one could find Robyn when she hid in her grove though she always enjoyed anywhere else in the forest when she was alone.

183. Heal:  The forest healed any hurt in her heart with its quiet balm.  So did performing for others. 

112. Insanity:  Doing the same thing over and over and over and expecting a different result.  Or in other words, taking Physics science class for Robyn.

     Sorry Rob, you inherited my weakness.  Physics in application makes sense but combining the math in any way other than linearly doesn't work.  It's like there is some physical block in my brain which is really frustrating.  I know how things should work and that it should be easy but something just isn't clicking.  Other things I can comprehend with work and study, but physics ... GAH!!  I first took it my freshman year of high school along with geometry, failed out of the first semester, retook it my junior year and barely passed.  My teacher the first year was awesome (thank you Mr Steiner!!) but I didn't have enough of a math foundation and had too much of a homework load.  My teacher and I junior year only had a so so student teacher relationship.  He didn't always explain things in a way that made sense to me but by that point all the things I learned freshman year sunk in so I was able to make it farther.

95. New Years:  It was New Years day, the first time she showed Jericho her sacred grove.  She was incredibly nervous, as she had shown no one but Talulah, Austin, and her parents, and the last two had been a necessity in case anything happened to her, they had insisted that she show them where she disappeared to in the woods.  The ground was still covered in frost and frozen fog, even in the early afternoon, when she lead him first towards the old cabin, to mask their footprints, then into the underbrush.  Robyn had developed a bit of a homing beacon over the years, she could approach her grove from anywhere in the woods, and so avoided wearing a trail, other than the ones animals already used. 

     (The girl is seriously paranoid.)

163. Do Not Disturb:  Jericho knew about Robyn’s wooded retreat, he had followed her there enough times but, after observing how well and how far she went to cover her tracks, he had never actually been in.  It felt like too much of an invasion, besides which, he had spoken to Austin and learned of the vows they had made; he had no desire to anger her.  He was therefore very honored when she invited him to her grove.

133. Expectations:  He wasn’t sure what to expect when she invited him to see her favorite place in the world but is exceeded anything he could have come up with.  Chips of colored glass glittered in the cold afternoon air, casting a rainbow of patches on the frosted ground which was as flat and smooth as any house floor.  A bench with wrought iron flowers was tucked under the giant tree, facing a square of driftwood planks that were set into the ground, surrounded by candle holders of various colors and shapes.

Robyn Batch 5 - Raspberry thumbs

5. Outsides:  Robyn loved the fuzzy feel of raspberries on her tongue.  She could have done without the seeds on the inside.

     Raspberries are her favorite fruit.  Num!  Also her favorite color in many ways.

25. Strangers:  These days it was hard to imagine that she and Jericho had never been friends in high school. They shared stories about the same teachers and yearly pranks and laughed and joked, but once, they had been strangers.

44. Circle:  Raspberry pie, apple pie, strawberry pie, cherry pie.  County Fair ROCKED!  Robyn could spend the entire week of the County Fair eating pie, morning, noon, and night.  She even volunteered for pie eating competitions and to have pies thrown at her face.  She could and would forgo all of the corn dogs and hot dogs and caramel corns and burgers and such, just to eat pie.   And ethnic food.  She loved Indian food and lamb gyros.  The rest of the year she wasn’t nearly so pie crazy but that one week, she went nuts!  

     Why is she pie crazy?  Do you have any quirks that come around once a year or foods you only like on certain occasions?

78. Where:  Like any young one, Robyn enjoyed visiting her aunt, uncle, and cousins, and did so over summer vacation.  Unlike most young ones, she had to cross a continent and an ocean to do so.  While other kids didn’t go more than a few hours away or to Disneyland, Robyn got to fly for hours to go to England, Buckingham Palace, and cross the border to Ireland or France or Germany.

150. Breaking the Rules:  Eleven year old Robyn looked in curiously at the now open door before her.

“Now what did I tell you about your powers?” came Lucian LASTNAME’s voice over her shoulder.

“But I was bored!” she protested, looking up at him.  He wasn’t as tall as most adults which she liked.  Plus he had taught her more about picking locks, which lead to the current situation.

“That doesn’t mean you should break into the playground.” 

     A little insight into a NaNo writer, when we can't think of a last name for a character but we want the word count, we use all caps.  I randomly decided very early on that Robyn can pick locks.  She had the natural talent from a very young age and when Lucian, a former gang/mob member who is hiding in their little-nowhere town, discovered this, he decided to share his talent and teach her more tricks.  I had worried that her talent might be slightly unrealistic, as she begins her slightly illegal course around age three, but with the week I heard a story, completely unsolicited, about a friend's stepdaughter who picked locks nightly by that age to retrieve a Pillowpet.  Thank you reality for supporting me!

 167. Playing the Melody:  If anyone asked, Robyn would say falling in love with Jericho was a gradual thing from sheer exposure and time spent together, but secretly, and someday she would tell Jericho, she fell head over heels for him the day she caught him playing the melody of the song she had been practicing (her favorite song at the time) on his guitar.

     Jericho, your talents are increasing.

Robyn Batch 4 - Vegan Lemon Wafer Cookies

124. No Time:  “Rob, I need you to listen to me very carefully.  Grab your hiking pack, your purse, and a jacket, then go to the most hidden part of the forest you know.  The boss of the people trying to take over the town are after you.  Don’t come back until one of us comes to get you.”

    “OK.  How long do you …” Robyn started to ask but Jericho interrupted her.

    “Robyn, I need you to go now.  I stashed a tent and a couple of sleeping bags there a couple of days ago.  Now go!”

    “OK.  Stay safe.”  Robyn’s heart pounded as she hung up her phone and she dashed into her room.  The Pacific Northwest was long overdue for an earthquake, or volcanic eruption, or tsunami, or similar natural disaster and so she and her family always had emergency bags packed with food, clothes, medical supplies, and other lightweight survival gear, and larger packs in their cars.  But how would she make this inconspicuous?   Improvising, she grabbed a dark, long haired wig from her closet, stuffing her hair underneath as best she could as she nearly tripped down the stairs.  From their front closet she took one of her dad’s beige coats, large on her but typical of a hiker visiting the town.  Checking that her hair was out of the way enough to pass a cursory inspection, she shoved her mother’s gardening hat on her head and her look was complete.  It wouldn’t fool anyone who knew her well, or even a close glance from someone who didn’t, but it would do.  She slipped out of her back door and made her way through the back streets until she reached the forest and disappeared.

     Once again, originally this ended after Jericho speaks the first time.  This will get worked into the rising conflict part of my story.

131. Flowers:  Beaming, the mayor took to the stage, resplendent in pink, white, and green, matching the colors of the blooms with which they shared the stage.  “Welcome to the Twenty-eighth annual Rhododendron Festival!” 

     In your head, is the mayor a man or a woman?  I can't decide.

138. Abandoned:  Near her sacred grove Robyn found an old trapper’s cabin.  The windows had long ago been broken or stolen and the door no longer latched well due to the shifting and settling of the old house but the rest of the structure was in remarkable shape.  Though the wood was weathered it was cedar and pine, and as such was resistant to insects.  It was also protected by legend.  According to the lore of Aurelia, a woodsman, an outcast of the Sterne family, had built the cabin so far from the town because he was surly and didn’t get along well with others, except for the physician’s daughter.  Eventually the two fell in love and were wed, she moving out to the desolately located cabin with her new husband.  A year, then two passed and the woodsman and physician’s daughter were going to have a child.  When the time came he rode to fetch his father in law but when they two returned she lay dead, the babe cut from her and all valuables stolen.  Understandably the woodsman was never the same after that.  He tracked down and killed his wife’s murderers but never found his child, a daughter.  Eventually he returned but none could ever speak to him again save the physician who had become the town drunk.  He had helped his son in law by torturing his daughter’s killers in the cabin to get all of the information out of them before killing them.  It was said that if you took anything from the cabin the woodsman and the drunken doctor would track you down, chop off your fingers, and, if you were lucky, kill you.  Teens left the cabin alone, except for sneaking off to hook up, and always left a flower as an offering to appease the love stricken pair. 

     This looks so much more impressive handwritten.  Probably one of the darkest/most horrific things I've written but sets up parts of the story nicely.  Based on an AU Once Upon a Time Rumbelle fanfic I read set in the wild west, mixed with years of watching Criminal Minds and Bones and recalling all the small town legends they faced that modern day killers used as cover.

     In my head Robyn will buy this house and rebuild it to live in or Henry will make it a gift shop/nature conservation center.

164. Multitasking:  Robyn found it difficult to study without music playing so she usually had her upcoming performance pieces playing in the background as she read her textbooks. 

175. Mirror:  To any imaginative theater buff mirrors had a very interesting connotation, just as they did to Robyn.  She could imagine herself as Sarah, summoning goblins and being seduced by the Goblin King through her bedroom mirror.  Or she could be Christine Daee, being watched and entrancing through her dressing room mirror the Angel of Music, the Phantom of the Opera.  Jareth.  Erik.  Mirrors were portals to other worlds, other identities.  When you looked in the mirror you could transform yourself into someone new or see yourself for what you truly were.  It was no wonder that she hid things important to her behind every mirror.

     Seriously, what is it with musical writers and mirrors?  And I love the idea that in her bedroom one of her mirrors swings out to reveal a cupboard or that taped to the back of her mirrors are pictures and notes that she doesn't want anyone else to see.  Can YOU think of any other important theatrical/cinematic/literary mirrors?

Robyn's clearing

     Over the years Robyn had worked on her clearing, gradually making the perfect haven.  Her first project was to clean up debris from the past generations, old coke bottles from the sixties, a couple of arrowheads, a tin cup, some broken pottery, and an old, broken, white plastic chair.  Next she raked up the old leaves and pine needles littering the clearing.  Her parents never asked where she went each spring with the rake and it was a long time before she shared.  Now she mostly cleared one corner as a stage.  Once she had cleared the space to the dirt floor she had set about every afternoon for nearly two months in the summer, clearing rocks and stones and flattening the ground, starting with one shovel.  Eventually Tal and Austin had wanted to know where she disappeared to and, under threat of death, that they were to not reveal the location to anyone, mother, father, uncle, sibling, future boyfriend or girlfriend (until they had been married for ten years) and that they were to hide their tracks as if they were hunted, she showed them her pet project.  After that the work had gone much more quickly.

Oz and Tal had never taken to the clearing like Robyn, respecting is as HER place but they were willing to help her maintain it (and Tal disappeared to there when she was having problems with her parents) and the first day of sun in spring the three of them met without speaking to rake the clearing.  The removal of the rocks and leveling of the ground allowed Robyn to dance to her heart’s content, either her routines on the stage she constructed out of found lumber and driftwood, or whatever moved her around the clearing.

The next step in Robyn’s personalization was the purchase of a second hand used wrought iron bench.   At the time she was a senior in high school, preparing for college and pouring through stores to decorate her future apartment.  She had Austen help her haul it to the woodsman’s house, stashed it here late in the evening, left it for a couple of days, then had him help her haul it into the clearing.  They positioned it under an outgoing branch, next to the trunk, fairly protected from the elements.

The magpie/jackdaw in Robyn led her to collect various shiny glass objects, suncatchers, pretty candleholders, mirror chunks, and mobiles that she hung around in the branches of the sequoia and in the surrounding rhododendrons.  After she ‘domesticated’ Salmon she used some of the bits and bright paint to decorate her cat house.

Slowly the clearing took on an enchanted, fairytale feeling in which she could become a forest nymph or sprite, and escape from the stress and dirtiness of life.

To begin with this was a VERY secretive place that Robyn didn't even tell her parents about but then I decided her parents were probably too nosy, if they are anything like mine, to let her sneak off so much without confronting her.  And more on the woodsman's house in a bit.

I used to have a similar project, on a much smaller scale, that I worked on in our yard but recently those trees have been cut down or that corner filled with a shed.  Thank goodness for creative outlets to fill that new void. 

Robyn Batch 3 - Snickerdoodles

31. Sunrise:  Snuggling into her jacket and grateful for it’s warmth in the pre-dawn September morning air, she gazed across the harbor at the edge of the horizon.  The sky was beginning to turn a delightful shade of pink as she waited for the boats to appear.

     Her uncles/family work with the fishing fleets who go out before dawn.

 

38. Touch:  The chunk of pyrite had once been rather sharp and lumpy with geode but Robyn’s habit of rubbing it when she was worried or thinking deeply had worn it into smooth lumps and blobs.

64. Fall:  School starting, the end of tourist season, and the falling of the leaves did not always coincide.  It was usually still warm when the brain was forced to think “fall” and “School” and retired couples took advantage of the fact to tour the coast. 

75. Shade:  There was one spot in the forest that Robyn considered sacred.  Off the beaten path and known to few, if any, others you had to find your way through a maze of rhododendrons, twisting and turning through their floral branches, before you could come upon the clearing.  All around were trees but in the middle was a TREE.  An ancient sequoia, it had been shaped long ago by the native peoples and as such it had many convenient sitting area and reached high, covering a large area with its canopy, shading the clearing so it was cool in the summer and relatively snow free in the winter. 

     This was my first hint of what was to become another major location for the story and a great deal of who Robyn is.  This spawned it's own huge description which I will post tomorrow.  The tree is based off of the "Octopus Tree" in northern Oregon which really was shaped by the native peoples ages ago.  I really appreciated the opportunity to visit the coast during the writing of this story.

24. Family:  ”Honey, your mom and I have something to tell you.”

Ten year old Robyn looked up at her parents.  Their tone was very serious.

“Am I going to be a sister again?”  Her tone was a bit exasperated.  She didn’t really want another little brother or sister.  She thought two was plenty!  Besides, none of her friends at school had more than two.  Except for that strange girl May Flower.  Her parents exchanged glances then her father spoke.

“Kinda.  You already are a sister.  A long time ago your mom had a baby but she couldn't take care of the baby because your mom was too young then and she wasn’t married so she gave the baby to a family that could take care of her.  That baby, your big sister, is all grown up now and would like to come visit.”

Robyn looked at her parents consideringly for a long while.  “Is she going to live with us?”

“No, she would like us to come visit her in England.  Would you like to meet her?”

“If she isn’t going to live with us.  I don’t need another sister.  I already have one.”  Then a thought struck Robyn.  “What is her name?”

“Her name is Sienna.  Would you like to see a picture of her?”

Robyn nodded.  This was most strange.  Most people got younger siblings didn’t they.  This would be something to share with Austin, she was getting an older sibling.  Maybe there was one out there for him!

      I'm working on making my characters more imperfect, which is where this came from.  Robyn now has a half sister who is seven years older than she and is a mother.  I still haven't decided quite how Sienna came into existence (though alcohol was involved) but as mentioned Robyn's mom didn't keep her, instead giving her to a local family.