Musings

An excerpt from my current story project….

He barely met her gaze as his skilled fingers loomed over the strings, plucking softly, letting the sound fill the air as ripples would expand throughout a body of water. He relished in the sound, breathed it, tasted it, and became a part of it almost. It was as though he were transcending into another world even as he sat before her. He was no longer here; he was lost within the gentle hymn of the instrument and all the beauty it possessed.
“Can you hear it?” He murmured, “I mean…can you really hear it? What it’s saying?”
“I can.” She replied in as soft a tone as his, as to not disturb his concentration, “I can hear every word it’s trying to say.”
“Then you are one of few who can.” His fingers flew down the neck, caressing the instrument as though it were the most precious possession he owned. It sang for him, helplessly giving in to his commands, revealing such sweet music that it haunted the soul with its melody. It transcended anything else she had ever heard before, and brought her into his world, showing her everything he was feeling and everything he wanted to convey with the notes that were played.
When the music ended, her reverie scattered into a million fragments. She had strayed into what had seemed a dream; he has so effortlessly brought her there and brought her out of it.
“My constellation of chords.” A faint smile tugged at his lips, flickering across his perfectly angular features and illuminating his cerulean eyes as they fixed themselves upon her.
“Only you could paint the sky in such colors.” She grinned, still in awe at his mastery in the art of music.
“And only you can see them.”
He returned to his instrument, fiddling around with different notes and key changes until afternoon became evening and the diamonds of the sky peeked out from the sheet of black silk....

~~~~~~~

Hope you enjoyed that tid bit! I'm playing around with my characters and seeing how I would like for them to interact in the story. This is certainly a fun story to write and I greatly appreciate all the inspiration that went into it as well as the characters and how they're turning out. I must give great thanks to one of my incredibly close friends who I shall cherish for the rest of my life. He is without a doubt the muse to this story, and has inspired me in countless ways, especially as a person as well as a writer. The line "constellation of chords" is ENTIRELY his, and rightly so. Only he could create such a line and such music.

Keep writing, keep smiling, and keep loving the life you're living!

~Piper

Let down your hair, here's your glass shoe, your awakening kiss, and magic carpet....

A cute little fairytale I devised within my imaginings today....

Once upon a time there lived a princess. A princess who lived in an old and weary castle, filled with dark riddles and secrets that hushed and snuffed any candlelight. No princes or suitors dared enter; for fear that such darkness would ensnare them as well. Not even the bravest of hearts challenged what lurked there and guarded its precious prize.
This princess was not the most beautiful or the most elegant, she was quiet, kind, creative, courageous, intelligent, and had a heart of gold that she wore on her sleeve. Her only companions were the family of spiders that spun diligently in the corners of her room.
She occupied her time humming, never singing, tip-toeing, never dancing, and whispering stories to the spiders, never fully talking aloud. Silence kept her, it made her afraid to utter anything above a murmur or do anything that might cause a racket.
One fateful day, a man in golden armor appeared with a torch. He held the flame high with his sword drawn, armor clanking with every footstep as he approached the castle. Upon his head, a mighty crown to match his gilded plates.
“My princess, I am a Prince of a faraway land, I shall see to the destruction of this creature and release you from this horrible place!”
He entered bravely, triumphantly making his way into the depths of the castle where the beast waited in roiling anticipation. She could almost hear his racing heart, before it was silenced with a cry. It was another crown to add to the beast’s collection.
On that same day, later in the afternoon, a knight upon horseback approached the castle, waving his banner high.
“My fair maiden, I will rescue you from your imprisonment! Fear not, this darkness shall soon be introduced to the light!”
He charged his noble steed into the castle, not knowing what waited within until it was too late. She heard the almighty roar of the beast as it came alive and silenced the progress of the knight.
Then, as the evening grew dark and night cloaked the sun in black silk, a minstrel approached the castle, singing soft sweet melodies that would soothe any savage beast.
“My lady, trouble yourself no longer with this castle, for I shall be the one to set you free!” He too made his way into the castle, no light, no armor, merely his tunic and his instrument to guide him. He was a fool to think that he would succeed with so little protection and no weapon to defend himself. She listened and waited. Before she knew it, music bounced off the walls, echoing, moving every which way until she herself was rendered confounded. The music was everywhere, the frivolous plucking and stringing of chords filled her head to the point she did not know where the source was coming from. It was then the minstrel appeared within her doorway, still singing and playing as loudly as possible, beckoning for her to follow. She gathered her hampering skirts and hurriedly followed the nimble steps of the minstrel. They flew through the stygian chambers, blindly following their feet as they created such noise and such music that the beast could not find or trace their progress through the shaking labyrinth. Stone began to crumble from the intensity of the echoes, the castle began to tremble and wither away behind them. It wasn’t until after they escaped the castle that he stopped playing the tune and looked back at his progress. The castle was nowhere to be seen, all that was left was a pile of rubble that once guarded and held her captive for many years.
“You are safe my lady,” he smiled, eyes dancing with a victorious light and laughter. Yet when he saw her face, his victory was soon halted. “My lady….why do you cry?” He lifted her porcelain chin to meet his curious gaze, salty tears leaving hot rivers down her flushed cheeks.
“The spiders….” She wept, her voice shaky and uneven, but still above a whisper now that she was free of that cursed place.
“Spiders? Why, there they are perched upon your shoulder.”
The princess ogled at her shoulder and sure enough, there they were! The tiny family, eight legs and all, sat upon her embroidered sleeves, safe and sound.
“You did it. You saved me, you saved the spiders, and you killed the beast!”
His smile was contagious, his lips spreading into a charming smile that could illuminate the sky all by itself. She was tempted to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him, but she didn’t want to hurt the spiders. So, instead, she cupped the sides of his face with her hands and leaned in for a gentle and rewarding kiss.
“I would save all the spiders in the kingdom if it meant spending a lifetime with you and your golden heart.”
Their laughter filled the air, she felt her voice unleash at long last as she allowed herself to smile and feel the happiness that had been unlocked. As he played a merry tune, she sang to her heart’s content. They lived far away, somewhere by the sea, where they could sing and dance all day long and pursue the greatest happiness of all.
The end.

~Piper

To fight the rising odds

What does it mean to be a hero?

Really?

Is it glory? Is it recognition? Or is it inhuman abilities that can be used for the power of good to vanquish evil?

You walk down the street and you must think to yourself that life is not a marvel comic book, there is no Batman, Superman, or Spiderman. We’ll throw in Wonder Woman, just to level the playing field. These people do not exist, they are mere drawings and fictional characters thrown into a modern corrupt world and they are the ones to set things right. Is that not god-like? Are they not overseers correcting the wrongs of mankind? They are the other half of the spectrum, the light vs. dark, the good vs. evil, the justice vs. wrong.

It’s sad to think that such people do not exist. That no almighty 6 foot hunk of beefcake with rippling pectorals tightly bound in spandex is going to save you from the boredom of your day job. Again, a girl can dream.

But then you have to realize that the road to life is very much like Gotham City and you are Batman. You may not have superpowers from a faraway planet, and you may not be the richest person alive, but you can make a difference. It doesn’t take a cape and a mask to make you a hero. ANYONE can be a hero. You may not be saving people’s lives on a daily basis or curing serious illnesses, but you are vanquishing the evils that life has planted around every twist and turn in the road. And that is what I am doing. I am taking each challenge that is being thrown at me and wrestling it to the ground, so that I may rise and be the victor. With each challenge, with each decision, with each action, I am bettering myself as a person and becoming someone I am proud of. By doing that, others will recognize your confidence and will and determination, and deem you a worthy soul as well and will be honored to know you.

Hold your head high and wake up in the morning feeling determined, feeling like you can do this, feeling like you can face whatever curve-ball life has in store for you. And no matter how many curve balls hit you, the bruises will go away, you will heal, and you will move on and learn to throw them back twice as hard, so that they will never return to hurt you again.

So put that spandex suit away, it may be bikini season but trust me, you won’t need it….

Be your own hero.

And who knows, maybe others will see you as their hero too.

~Piper

A Few Of My Favorite Things….

There is nothing quite like the promise a day will bring….

You wake up in the morning, its 8:30, your toes are curling with excitement as you wrap the sheets tightly around you like a safe warm cocoon…because you know that the moment you step out of bed…everything changes. You will face the day with all its challenges and its surprises.

Who knows what could happen?

You could wake to your loved one silently making you pancakes endeavoring to surprise you. You could find a garden gnome in your bathroom wondering how it got there last night. You could discover an entire drawer full of chocolate at work, and it’s all yours. There are a gazillion possibilities that could happen today, and they all depend on how you face them and what you choose to do about them.

I had a morning very much like that.

Waking up incredibly warm and comfortable and safe, grabbing a bowl of cereal with strawberries, tying my hair up into a tight bun, listening to energizing music and singing along whilst dancing around the house, and getting ready to face the day. It was by far one of the best mornings yet!

I have to admit, I am discovering a lot of my favorite things this summer. To list them all would take several years of my life I am sure, but I am more than happy to oblige and name a few:

 Baking in the wee hours of the morning. You know that feeling where you just can’t sleep and your fingers are itching to be productive? I had that feeling the night before Mother’s Day, so I made Cinnamon-Pull-Apart Bread at 2 in the morning and waited patiently for dough to rise and ingredients to be combined. That bread took several hours to make, but the end result was definitely worth it! The kitchen smelled heavenly of cinnamon and butter for all of Mother’s Day. Best. Gift. Ever.

 Writing Poetry. Even if it’s just nonsense in a journal, or little blurbs of words that rhyme, I value poetry greatly. To say SO much within such a TINY collection of words is amazing and astounds me every time. I keep a little journal where I endeavor to write a poem each and every day. I admit I have slacked in that department for the past week now, but I will most likely resume that tradition now that I have written it here for all my lovely readers to see….

 Laughter. There is just something about it. Sometimes a person’s laugh is hysterical enough to make you laugh at them. Other times you are simply laughing along with them because you both found the same thing hilarious. And others…you are laughing because you are happy. If your loved one has crow’s feet around their eyes and has thrown their head back and mouth wide open chuckling like a madman….there just isn’t anything better. The world gets brighter for that moment.

 Long walks. Face it, you sometimes feel squirrely and you just HAVE to get out of the house. The best way to do that is to either go shopping for a good pair of shoes, or take a good long stroll down the neighborhood and silently hold a competition of which neighbor put the most effort into their yard’s appearance this year…. It is both healthy and amusing at the same time.

 My betta fish. He is a pain in the butt sometimes…. You must be thinking “how can a fish be a pain? They are the easiest pets to take care of!” True, they are easy, but they also have attitudes. My betta fish, named Rick Castle (yes from the t.v. show “Castle”) is quite the pretty princess and deserves to be treated as one. He guards his Spongebob Squarepants pineapple as though it were a god sent and HE is the only one who can have it. He is always hungry. ALWAYS. No matter how much you feed him, he is a little piggy. He also puffs up his gills whenever you approach his tank because it is CLEARLY his territory and you should not be pressing your nose up against the glass. It also doesn’t help when my family coo’s at him because he looks soooooooooo cute. I think they might be projecting just a tad…..But I coo at him too so….I can’t really complain about that one. Nevertheless he is my baby and has been a constant joy for me and my dorm room throughout this year. I am hoping for at least another year or two with him. Love you little guy.

 Grass. You cannot believe how refreshing wiggling your bare toes in grass is…especially if it’s mid-afternoon and the sun has been warming up the ground, it’s like your very own foot treatment. Thank you Mother Nature!

 Chai tea. A cup full of hot milk with a spoonful of sugar and chai spice…man, now you’re talking about a great evening. Bring me chai tea and I will be your best friend forever.

I’m expecting Julie Andrews any minute now to come bursting into the office singing, “these are a few of my favorite things”. The list goes on and on, with even longer explanations as to why I like them! I have so many things that I like and I hope that you also have a huge list compiled of all the things you love whether it be on paper or in your head. Things that tickle you, make you warm and fuzzy inside, things that make you happy, puzzle you, excite you, or render you speechless.

Share with me your favorite things. Kisses in the rain? Hot chocolate during the first snow of Christmas? Spontaneous adventures to a movie theatre with your friends? Grocery shopping? Getting your hair trimmed? Tell me your stories.

~Piper
As always, keep smiling! The hills are alive!

Parlez-vous franglais?

There is something about summer….

It’s the most relaxing time of year, yet everything seems to hit the ground running. Mother Nature is full speed ahead in terms of weather patterns, giving us heat and sun and rain and chilly breezes. Everyone is taking vacations and packing their bags to go to faraway tropics such as Hawaii and Florida. I actually know several friends who are going to Germany, Israel, France, and Thailand. Sometimes, life is just not fair. Send me a postcard you ninnies! Share with me your experiences by giving me some kind words and a pretty picture of where you have been. Better yet, shrink me so that I can fit inside your pocket and see everything for myself!

….A girl can dream….

While they are off gallivanting and enjoying the splendors of the globe, I shall remain here. Wiggling my toes in the sun-warmed grass, go swimming in the neighbor’s pool, take long contemplative walks, write nonsense in my poetry book, as well as spend as much time as I can with friends and loved ones; surrounding myself with other insanely pleasant victims who shall not travel first class this summer. I think my evil plan is working.

Funny story, I think I am projecting my fond desire to travel abroad into my dreams. Last night, amongst the background noise of several episodes from West Wing season 3, I dreamt of several people speaking horrible French to me. Granted, it wasn’t like they were saying anything bad, they just had bad accents. Thus whenever I opened my mouth and spoke simple French 101 sentences, they would praise me for how lovely and real my accent sounded. I thought this notion was absolutely ridiculous, but it turns out, I did have a pretty good accent, if I dare say so myself. Ahem. Est-ce que je peux un crêpe avec les fraises et nutella s'il vous plaît? Merci!



Speaking of which, I should make one of those tonight! Hurrah!

Keep smiling! It gets better!

~Piper

100 Days Of Summer

LET THE SUMMER COMMENCE!

At last it is over. The pain-staking experience that sucks the very life out of you....finals week has been conquered.

Checkmate.

It feels wonderful to be home, amongst my peeps, hot meals, as well as feeling the love and support of people around you. There's nothing quite like going to sleep at night knowing you have no real responsibilities the next day. Just rest and relaxation.

It's impressive how the human body just "knows" how to adapt to summer. Right away, your brain goes into cottage cheese mode and suddenly you do not have 10 page papers and research projects due the next week. The only thing you have to worry about in terms of next week is who you are going to hang out with and what book you are going to read next.

Also, it is Mother's Day! This day is dedicated to all those wonderful women who have devoted their hard work and loving nature towards those who are a significant part of their lives. Devote your attention towards these lovely ladies, because they have done so much, big and small, and are very powerful influences in our lives. Show your mother just how much she means to you on this day. Even if it means making Cinnamon-Pull-Apart-Bread at 2:00am-4:00am. :)

In terms of goals for the summer, I have thought long and hard about what I would like to accomplish. Here is a rough sketch of what I would like to do:
-Read at least 10 books (I already have particular books in mind)
-Play on the xbox 360
-Expand my movie watching and become reasonably cultured
-Hang out with friends
-Cook and bake as much as possible
-Keep a dream diary
-Take long walks, and go jogging in the mornings! Work out!
-Less time on facebook and more time actually living
-Possibly probably maybe mayhaps get some reasonable amount of sun...being incredibly pale is a joy to behold my friends.
-Eat healthy, lots of fruit and vegetables
-Find SOMEONE to swingdance with, else these next three months are going to drive me insane

Ta da! Worthy goals. Not too out there and not too shabby in terms of short terms goals to reach over the course of the summer.

I hope you all have goals for the summer. It is a time that should not be wasted, but cherished. :) Good luck to all of you! I shall keep you posted on all my random an silly happenings over the course of these next few months. No disappearing, I promise!

~Piper

It's a piece of cake....

WRONG!

Finals week is upon us poor college students, and man, does it take the wind out of you fast.
Everything about this week seems to have been created in order to be my own personal hell. Papers beyond papers and ambiguous tests to which I have little to go off of. Sheesh.
Thank goodness summer is right around the corner!
I am alive I promise. I am hanging in there and keeping my head in the game. At the same time I cannot help but ask myself....why on earth am I doing this to myself? I don't need college. I could just do what I really want to do, which is to open up a bakery and sell delicious food to people and decorate cakes. While writing incredibly romantic and cheesy teen fiction on the side. That's my dream life.
My academic life tells me that I need to graduate, get into graduate school, get a job, be successful from 9-5 each day. .....see, that doesn't sound as fun to me.

But enough of my fantasies. I do not have much to report, but I just wanted to let my faithful readers know that I am still out there and I am thinking of you! Finals week will be half-way over tomorrow, cross your fingers and pray that I make it in one piece!

~Piper