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.

Robyn Batch 2 - Chocolate Chip

110. Breathe Again:  Sometimes it took a good metal song to be able to relax and breathe again, much to the concern of her parents.  When life overwhelmed her Robyn disappeared into her beloved woods and would lose herself in the hidden paths and animal sounds and overwhelming silence that enveloped her and erased who Robyn was, making her part of the whole that was serenity.

     Theme song: Breathe No More by Evanescence.  One of my favorite things about forests is losing my identity and becoming part of the whole.  Some day I want to walk into the forest and disappear for a year.

119. Grey:  Robyn often retreated to the quiet solitude of the forest when she needed space but rarely saw a creature larger than a squirrel or more dangerous than a doe so when a large grey furry creature came running up the trail from behind her she was understandably startled.  The grey, shaggy dog seemed to be grinning up at her as it’s tongue lolled out, panting from it’s sprint, then leaned up against her as she scratched the top of its head.  “Kenta!” both Robyn and the dog, evidently Kenta, turned to watch Jericho come around the bend. 

     I look forward to writing more about Kenta, whose name means Big in Japanese.  I am totally creative, lol.  Image from www.dogbehavioronline.com

123. Cat:  Robyn was terribly startled the first time she saw the furry cat in her clearing.   Robyn had fallen asleep in the sun after eating most of her tuna fish sandwich and woke to find a scrawny but incredibly furry cat eating the remnants of her lunch.  Robyn had allowed the cat to finish the sandwich, lying quietly until it had run away.  She took to leaving cat food in the clearing, then in a little wooden structure constructed on the back side of the tree, and then only when she was in the clearing for a while.  It had taken nearly eight months but eventually she and the cat, whom she named Salmon, had come to a truce and the Maine Coon now greeted Robyn in the town sometimes.

     I put off this prompt for so long because I had no idea what I was going to write but I am so happy I did force myself!  Salmon went from a nameless, terribly scrawny brown tabby she-cat with an attitude problem, to an enormously fluffy, if very hungry, grey Maine Coon who has a shelter, a steady source of food, a gender neutral name (though 90% of the time it is still a she), and a backstory (abandoned on the coast by some dumb tourists).  Maine Coons are frikkin huge and have a thick coat that could put up with coastal weather.  And my sister has razzed me about naming a cat Salmon but I think it fits perfectly.

128. Sorrow:  For a year after Robyn’s grandfather’s death Rose had to temper her student’s choice of macabre music.  Robyn managed to track down a funeral dirge or macabre, depressing piece for every time period, genre, theme, and composer she was given.  Quite a talent really but not the best for a developing lady.

     Mwahahahahaha!  Emo Robyn!  This shouldn't tickle me but Robyn is such an even keeled and happy character in my head that her being nearly Goth makes me giggle.

189. Through the Fire:  She may have been cut and bleeding but she was alive and at that moment Robyn couldn’t have been more grateful.

     I don't know what happened to her!  All I know is that this is at the climax of my story.

Robyn 200 - Round 1

     This past month I've been participating in Camp NaNoWriMo, with my own word goal and a small group of people to share the experience with.  My character was Robyn Tolliver, as mentioned in an earlier post.  I worked on a list of 200 prompts to help out my word count and while I didn't get through them all I'd like to share with you, dear reader, what I have done, and continue until I finish them.  They won't all be 'cannon' but some of them are interesting 'what-ifs' and 'what on Earth where you thinking besides getting as many words on the page as possible?'.  Some of these were like pulling teeth, I forced myself to power through them so I could move on to ones that were more fun.  Enjoy!  As ever, Author Commentary is in italics.

~*~*~*~*~*~

 

10. Years:  It had been many years since Robyn had last thought of her cave experience but as she stroked the pyrite necklace she always wore, a gift from that time, she was amazed that she had not died that day.  She knew nothing about the cave systems, how dangerous they were, and how easy it was to get permanently lost in their labyrinth.  She was incredibly lucky that Henry had been able to find her. 

 

     The necklace is a gift from Henry, a chunk of pyrite from the cave he found her in.  The caves are almost a character unto themselves in this story and featured prominently in my thoughts as I wrote, so much so that I titled this body of work The Shadow in the Cave.

19. White:  White was Robyn’s least favorite color.  She couldn’t stand a white piece of paper, it had to be covered in doodles or drawings or assignments or ideas or lyrics or music ASAP.

     Who knew?

23. Lovers:  “You know what we used to be, don’t you?” Stephanie smiled coldly.  If Jericho wasn’t going to give her attentions anymore she was going to see to it that neither did his new little flame.  Never mind the tenuous friendship the young women shared as fellow performers, there was always a little bit of diva competition anyways and quite frankly, no matter how ‘cool’ or disinterested Stephanie acted, she really did care about Jericho and their permanent break up hurt her.

28. Children:  She always figured it was completely natural, practically hardwired in her as an older sibling, for her to mentor and care for those who were younger than her.  It was more than a matter of choice, it was a matter of willing duty and responsibility to be an older sister and defender to everyone who lacked one.   

      Robyn's philosophy here is my own.  There is a great amount of pressure and responsibility on an older sibling (at least to me it feels like there is, maybe I'm too conscientious) but if you accept it and embrace it the duty can become a joy.

89. Work:  Only one of her jobs would be considered work, being a barista.  The rest of her means of employment were really a matter of being paid for something she liked to do.  Robyn wasn’t a huge fan of coffee (to be honest most of the time she thought the stuff tasted foul), the caffeine made her jittery, and serving to people who were only half awake and in a hurry wasn’t exactly fun, but the pay was reasonable and she got health benefits.  Working as a cashier/stock girl at the bookstore had been a lot of fun and widened her reading horizons.  Being the front desk clerk at her aunt’s Inn was fun too, even though it didn’t pay well, she enjoyed interacting with the different kinds of people that came through the town.  Working summers at the children’s theatre gave her a hint at what her future might be like, teaching little sproutlings to dance and sing and emote on stage.  It was a lot of hard work (especially with some of the parents involved) but it was a fulfilling work, seeing the final product.  And she was sure Henry had something to do with the Peacock Lounge’s revamp and reopening with a list of musical performers, including herself.  While it wasn’t acting per se, which was her forte she felt, she loved singing and being on stage regardless.

 

     Expanded on the recommendation of a fellow writer lass, this originally ended after the second sentence.