blog – By Quill and Candlelight

My B-Movie Blogging Challenge Entry

Posted on October 13, 2019October 13, 2019 by Janine

Happy Sunday!

So, a blog I follow, Fractured Faith Blog, posted a really cool and fun little challenge – read about it here:

Of course, I’m going to participate. How could I not?

What follows, is my entry. And, once again, even it is not chosen, I shall include this ‘short story’ (of sorts) in the book I’m putting together with other such “tiny tales.” Enjoy!

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“The Naughty Wanderer from National Security”

He was just a man. A man working a job. Sure it wasn’t your basic ‘9-to-5er,’ but it paid the bills.

Then one day it all got to be too much – too many citizens-turned-terrorist, too many senseless almost bombings, too many good people gone bad – too much, too much.

And so … he just walked away. Didn’t even pack up his desk. Just left it as is. There wasn’t much of his stuff, of himself and who he was, there anyway. He preferred to keep his real life separate from this place, from his work.

Without a word to anyone, he walked to the elevator, took it down to the main floor, flashed his badge to leave, and exited the building. Never to look back.

See, that wasn’t exactly prescribed protocol. Wasn’t how it was supposed to be done. Not quite. “Well,” he thought to himself, “that was just too damn bad.”

And as he stood there on the cold hard sidewalk, gazing about at all the people coming and going, clueless in their certainty of ‘what was,’ he considered – what to do from here? There were options. Other jobs, for one. Places he hadn’t yet been. Friends to make he didn’t have. Maybe even a real life to be made, with a wife, and kids. Then again, maybe not. He knew first-hand the type of world he lived in, and the unseen dangers which lurked around every corner.

Not being one to overthink anything, he began walking, around the corner of the building he’d worked at for eight long years. And just kept right on walking.

Sure, they’d probably come after him. If nothing less than to ask why. Why? The why should be self-explanatory. What they all did there, their assigned duties, hardly seemed to make a difference. Most days it seemed as though the bad guys were winning. But then, if they didn’t do their jobs, if they didn’t push back against those same bad guys, weren’t they failing those whom they were sworn to protect?

It didn’t matter anymore, at least that’s what he told himself as he rounded yet another corner.

Maybe, it was time to switch sides. Or, simply appear to.

And as he passed by a face he recognized, recognized from a wall of such people he’d been staring at for years, someone who had no idea who he was; he smiled. A slow, sly, knowing smile. Pivoting lithely on one foot, he resumed his walk, following that face. Pursuing a different course, altering the direction of his life, becoming a wanderer in a new, and ever-changing landscape of possibility.

Chit Chat

All in Good Time

Posted on March 17, 2017August 14, 2019 by Janine

“Do or do not, there is no try.”

Well, no offense to Master Yoda, but the ‘trying’ can be a challenge in and of itself. And as long as you keep on trying, this very act is accomplishing something vitally important, in that, you’re steadfastly not giving up nor admitting failure.

Now, as for myself, I am fully committed to achieving my goals, have the conviction to succeed, and faith in my own ability; while also being able to honestly and fearlessly, recognize and acknowledge my own limitations.

Maybe some of you will know what I mean when I say that I spend too much time inside my head thinking, rather than just ‘doing’; which in my case is – getting my creativity on, so to speak. We’re our own worse enemy, are we not?

Setting goals is most assuredly important, but what if you do happen to ‘fail’ in meeting those lofty goals you’ve set for yourself? That can be incredibly disheartening, and cause you to second guess yourself, or worse, feel like giving up. But I, dear Yoda, will not. I shall keep ‘trying’; invariably ‘to do.’

And so, I have set myself new (and improved) goals, accepted what’s done is done, and decided quite defiantly, I WILL achieve that which I’m determined to accomplish…

All in Good Time.

Chit Chat

A Year Has Come, and Gone … ugh!

Posted on March 17, 2016August 14, 2019 by Janine

Hail and well-met! Come … stay a while.

Why is it the first post is always the hardest? Similar to the first line of a play or poem, or the opening sentence of the first chapter of a novel. Either the words just flow forth freely or the simple act of creativity presents a challenge. Sometimes our inner muse makes us work for it. 😉

And so, after abandoning the interim blog I’d originally made, I finally went ahead and bought my first two domains. (Both over a year ago!) One for my ‘official’ author website, and the other to be used to represent my “brand” – that which I want my writings and other works to be associated with or to be known by.

My intentions with this blog are many and varied. For now, it will be used as a makeshift website, until such time as a more traditional one becomes necessary. Although I shall endeavor to post regularly, my aim will be that of quality, rather than quantity. The tone casual, as if I’m carrying on a conversation with you, dear readers.

For now, we’ll leave it at that.