Robyn Batch 12 - Oatmeal cookies

200. Relaxation:  Every performer has a post performance routine to decompress from the show.  Some are more intense or complicated than others but everyone has them.  When Robyn was young, her family always took her out to dinner afterwards with her friends.  As she grew older and was in more and more productions sometimes they would only get ice cream or pie, but they always met to celebrate a job well done.  And then she discovered her newest way of decompressing.  After coming home she would draw a bath, light a few candles (this number grew and grew until she would fill the room), sprinkle in bath salts (menthol or lavender or neroli or vanilla), twist her hair above her head, and sink to her nose in the hot, tension draining water (sometimes with a rubber duck or four).  She would have preferred silence the first time she tried this method but her family inherently made noise so she had played a CD with sounds of wind in the trees and ocean waves gurgling among rocks.  Eventually she grew to prefer that so even when she had her own place and the opportunity to revel in silence, she listened to the sounds of nature to soothe her fried nerves and tired mind.

     My family and I had the same tradition as Robyn and her family, either dinner at Shari's or a snack from Dairy Queen.  After I quit eating ice cream in seventh grade (I found out it was bad for your throat and my allergies thank me) it was the only time I allowed myself to indulge.  Now we go out after my brother's choir concerts, which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

142. Standing Still:  Jericho was leaning against the brick wall of a building across the street from where Robyn was chatting with a shopkeeper.  Finally she had stopped moving!  He had spent the morning following her around per Henry’s orders and quite frankly he was becoming exhausted.  First she had made a trip to the florist’s to pick up two bouquets, then driven her teal, old-fashioned VW Beatle to her aunt’s inn to drop off one of the bouquets.  Evidently the older woman was under the weather so Robyn hadn’t stayed long, driving then to her piano teacher’s home.  There she had again dropped off a bouquet, though not before removing part of it he noticed.  From there she had driven to the downtown shopping district, parked her car and had been walking from shop to shop, picking up various groceries, until she had been caught in a conversation by the owner of the cheese shop.  With a sigh he looked back across the street and was startled to find her gone!  With a startled muttered curse he began scanning the street trying to find her, finally finding her near her car.  She had evidently dropped off her groceries, retrieved the flowers she had set aside earlier, and was now striding straight for him.  Henry had not briefed him on what to do if she approached him.

    “Bored yet?” she asked when she was close enough that they didn’t have to shout.

    “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he decided to play it cool.

    “Of course not,” she smiled.  “I hope you’re here on Henry’s orders and not on your day off.  Because then we might have to have a talk.”

    He wasn’t sure how to respond to that so he just shook his head in mock shame.

    “That’s what I thought.”  She held up a stem with many white bell like blossoms on it, intertwined with a vine with purple flowers, and extended it toward him.  “Would you give this to Henry for me?  I’m going straight home after this and promise I’m not leaving for the evening.  I have several exams to study for.”

    Jericho gingerly took the flower and gave her a quizzical look.  “What is this?”

    “White heather and sweetpeas.  He’ll understand.  Ta ta for now!”  With a wave over her shoulder she turned and returned to her car, waving again as she drove off.

    Jericho looked in confusion at the blooms then hurried to his own car.  He drove past her house to make sure she was indeed home, then drove to his employer’s office.  After assuring Henry that nothing out of the ordinary had happened Jericho handed him Robyn’s gift.

    “This is from her.  She said you’d understand what it meant.”

    Henry twirled the flowers in his fingers and thought for a moment.  “Protection and thanks.  I believe the meaning is fairly clear.”

    Jericho looked at his boss in confusion for several long moments.  How the heck did he know?  How much time did they have to plan out flower meanings?  Henry could read the questions in Jericho’s eyes and gave a half smile.  Too bad he wasn’t in the mood to let him in on the secret.  Let him figure it out on his own.

     I had this wonderful vision of Jericho following Robyn around because he was ordered to and she spends the entire day going turbo, then during that one moment she holds still, Jericho loses track of her.  His freak out was most humorous but this is what ended up being written.  And I love the Victorian flower language so I try to include it when possible.  If I mention flowers by name in a story, you might find it interesting to look up the possible meanings.  I feel many of our modern day exchanges are missing a level of richness and meaning.  It is just the sort of archaic thing Robyn and Henry would both know.

198. Puzzle:  A sigh holding the weight of the world came from Darren Tolliver’s living room and reached him in his kitchen.  Spooning hot clam chowder into two thick ceramic bowls, he carried the steaming food into said living room where his little red headed niece sat brooding over a partially completed Beverly Doolittle puzzle.  As he set the bowls down around the mostly complete edge Robyn heaved another heavy sigh.

    “Are you trying to compete with the gale outside?” he asked gently.  He didn’t always know what to do with the little girl, currently entrusted into his care while her parents, his brother and an English lady, were out on a date.  Usually their sister took care of Robyn but evidently his niece had decided he needed company.  The best he had come up with at the moment was a puzzle likely too hard for her.

    “Do you think Mom and Daddy will be OK?” she asked in a small voice.  She was trying to be brave but he could hear the worry plainly in her voice.

    Putting one of his hands on her head he stroked her silky hair.  “Your daddy’s a good driver Greenling.  He is smart too.  If he thinks the wind is too strong he will call and tell us.”

    Robyn tapped her chowder spoon against her pouted bottom lip as she considered his words.  He was right, her daddy was a good driver, and smart too.  But she didn’t want them to stay away.  *Storm,* she thought, *be quiet until my mommy and daddy get me.  Let me go home and then you can be as strong as you like.*

    As if in response there was a momentary break in the rain hammering the window before it resumed, no harder than before.  With a little smile Robyn acknowledged her uncle and the storm.  “OK.”

15. Blue:  The two men stared around the room they had been given by the woman at the front desk.  When she had said it was the sapphire room she hadn’t been kidding.  The walls were a warm white but the curtains, bedspreads, and lightly jeweled lamp shades were a deep, royal blue.  The carpet was a soft grey to hide stains, the same shade as the floor tiles in the modest sized, white walled bathroom containing a toilet, sink, and bathtub with sapphire colored accents and opaque blue shower curtain.

     They are mob drug runners who spend most of their time in roach infested motels.  They don't know what to do with what they would consider fripperies.

171. Obsession:  Jericho wasn’t sure when protecting Robyn had become more than just a job, when it had become important to him, personally as opposed to professionally, to know her favorite color and flower and song.  When had a week, then a few days, without seeing her and exchanging at least a smile become boring or uncomfortable or lacking?  When had he begun looking for excuses to ‘drop by’?  Taken up his guitar again on her behalf?  Practiced her favorite meal on his day off?  Walked his dog through the forest she so loved instead of merely down the street as usual?

     At first I couldn't decide if I was going to write about Jericho or Henry but decided I could make Jericho less creepy, although I swear Henry has nothing but the purest motives and interest.

120. Fortitude:  They stood firm together against the onslaught, two stones against the rushing fire of opposition.  The invaders might have brute force and money behind them but Aurelia’s children had history and and family and a lifetime of friendship on their side.  As long as they were together and both alive, they would stand strong.

156. Danger Ahead:  When Talulah relayed her colleague, Cissy’s, report of suspicious men in the woods to Austin and when Robyn glimpsed the two strange men in the audience, none of them had any idea of the adventure and danger the pair would bring them.

Robyn Batch 11 - Peanut Butter Cookies

37. Sound: Nothing could get the Tolliver siblings’ attention like the M*A*S*H theme song. They would all drop whatever they were doing and flock to the living room like moths to a flame.

     Why was this prompt so hard to write?  I kept wanting to beat the subject of music to death.  Branch out woman!
     In our family the Star Trek theme and the M*A*S*H theme have a similar draw.

54. Air: There was nothing quite like the last few seconds before a performance began, whether it was a dance recital, a piano recital, or a choir concert. The performers buzzed with adrenaline and from the other side of the curtain/stage came waves of energy from family and friends. The air positively crackled.

    See, I can't get off the subject of music and performance.  I apologize.  That is what comes easily to me.

59. Food: “Mom, what are these pictures of me?” Robyn called down the hall. She had been looking through her baby album in search of a cute photo she could share for a class project when she came across several of her with a messy face and those contorted faces that only a baby can make. She heard her mother’s footsteps and felt her warmth behind her. A soft chuckle came over Robyn’s shoulder.
      “Those are your first time trying a bunch of foods. That one,” Athena pointed to a particularly scrunched face, “is when you tried lime. That one is avocado. And that one is raspberry puree. Even then you wanted more.”

     I watched a slo-mo video of babies trying different foods for the first time on BuzzFeed or YouTube and was inspired to write this piece when it came up.  Really funny stuff!

70. Storm: The horizon had been rumbling out a warning for the past two days, thoroughly creeping out most of Aurelia’s population and giving them time to brace for the oncoming cataclysm. Large front windows were boarded up, roofs were nailed down, food was stockpiled, and tourists were mostly gone when the first sheet of rain soaked the empty streets. Robyn was at her uncle Darren’s house, pacing in anticipation of the storm when she heard the musical tinkle on the window. She ran to the window then let out an excited whoop and ran into the kitchen. Spying her uncle she took a running leap and grabbed him from the side, wrapping him in a bear hug and pinning his left arm. He barely rocked from her weight and went on stirring the pot of chowder with his right hand while her purple socked feet dangled just above the floor.
      “I gather the storm is finally here Greenling?”
      “Geeeeeeeee!” was all the response he got, along with a peck to his cheek before she launched herself away and to the library on the second floor of his modest house. Shaking his head he returned his attention to the pot that was beginning to burble. As a fisherman, a storm meant loss of income and strange behavior from the stock for a day or two so he couldn’t join his niece's joy but he could understand her appreciation for the power of the ocean during a storm. From his library upstairs Robyn would curl into the chair that had been bought for her use, a ragged, green armchair, and watch with arm hairs on end as the ocean, vast and endless before her, writhed and foamed. Rain and a fair amount of wind were normal weather patterns for Aurelia but she loved it when one of these heavy squalls came in. She could spend hours watching the waves tear themselves apart and she and her uncle made a tradition out of it, which in time would come to include Salmon. She would come over and spend the first day and night with him, he would make a pot of New England clam chowder, she would make a pan of brownies, and they would sip hot apple cider while watching the waves and reading books together. They may not get to see each other much the rest of the year because of busy schedules but they always spent parts of storms together and caught up and got to know and appreciate each other.

      I dedicate this piece to my sister, Deanna, and her love of Oregon coast storms.  Who else wants clam chowder and brownies after this?  I think they are a very comforting and warming combination.

102. Love: One of the drawbacks to spending so much time in a fictional world as a dancer and performer was that sometimes she disconnected from reality. Love and hate became much more intense and a bit skewed. She fell intensely for boys in the plays and fell out of love just as quickly for many years. Things evened out after high school and with Rosamund’s guidance but it took work to have a calm head when the heart was involved.

      I was talking with one of my friends the other day, a woman who spent much of her life in ballet, dance, and music, and she mentioned that this was one of the problems she faced as a dancer, a disconnect from reality and expectation that life was as romantic as the sweeping epics she performed.  I thought it was a very interesting observation and would fit Robyn's type-A personality so I am trying to integrate it into her character.  We will see if the graft is successful in time.

I is sick. Me no like sick.

     I have a cold.  I hate colds.  My main symptoms tend toward joint aches and headaches which is nothing new and deal-with-able (what's the word?) but then all of a sudden.  

Yup, I turn into Carlotta and look like death warmed over.  Seriously? And I don't swallow pills so I get to try choking down liquid DayQuil but seriously, warm menthol, are you trying to kill me?  Thank goodness for kids liquid Ibuprofen, my inhaler, and my bestest, bestest friend Village Naturals Cold and Allergy Mineral Bath Soak.  Echinacea + ginseng + tea tree + menthol means I can FINALLY breath!  Can I live in the bath?  No?  Darn it.  Needless to say there may be a delay in writing coming out as currently I HAVE NO BRAIN.

See?

Too bad I need my inhaler when I laugh to hard, cold or no.