Dusted [FICTION]

Time to dust off what terrifies us and open those shades to let in the maddening light of the full moon...

Fanny glanced up from her chemistry book as Kit enters the room. The slight smile formed by sudden understanding disappeared as her eyes rested on the worn, blue duster in her roommate's hand.

"I've told you not to do that while I'm home. It sets off my allergies." 

"Are you planning to go out today?" Kit smiled and shook the duster encouragingly.

"I haven't decided yet." Fanny reached for the tissues with her eyes fixed intently on the dust dancing off the end of the duster.

"Alright." Kit sighed and disappeared back into her room.

Fanny returned her attention to her book. She didn't look up when Kit noisily made her exit a few minutes later. She continued to focus on her studies, slowly turning the pages as if nothing else existed by elements and molecules. As the shadows crawled across the floor, her eyes drooped. The battle ended, her eyes closed, and the book slid to the floor. The shadows continued to crawl across the ratty carpet as Fanny snored lightly.

Fanny jolted awake, staring wide-eyed into the darkness in search of the alarm that pulled her from dreamland. Only the red light on the television broke the darkness of the room. A soft glow seeped through the light curtains from outside. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, a movement under the couch caught her eye.

The chemistry book dug into her knee as she slid to the floor and leaned forward for a better look. As her palms touched the floor, the movement stopped. She leaned closer. Without the motion, she couldn't discern anything under the couch. Crawling on her hands and knees she warily approached until her forehead bumped against the rough, floral upholstery.

"There's nothing there." She said loudly to reassure herself.

The breath that chased her words disturbed something under the couch. She squinted as a dust bunny floated back to the dark carpet and came to rest. She stared at it for a moment before shaking her head. With one last glance under the couch, she slowly pushed herself back until she sat cross-legged on the floor. She waited.

She caught more movement out of the corner of her eye. This time, the bodies stayed in motion when her eyes rested on her. A swarm of dust bunnies rolled out from under the couch. As they drew closer, she noticed little legs and tiny arms. Those wispy arms seemed to wave in a formation until they all pointed at her. A wispy voice like an imagined whisper on the wind filled the air.

"You should have let her whisk us away."

Fanny's mouth dried out in an instant. Her tongue stuck to the top of her mouth. She pushed herself up from the floor. The dust bunnies continued to approach. The closer they got, the more detail caught her attention. Rows of tiny, sharp teeth sprouted at random on malformed bodies. Dark spots could be eyes or tumors. Fanny shuddered and looked away.

As her eyes turned toward the ceiling, she noticed more dust bunnies dancing along the blades of the ceiling fan. Encouraged by her attention, they began to leap from their high perch.

They floated gracefully to land on Fanny's face. She tried to scream but, as they landed, they swarmed over her mouth, effectively smothering her cries for help. She coughed. She sneezed. She swatted at the dust bunnies as more and more of them appeared from under every piece of furniture or leaped from on high. The pressure of her hands forced them together, creating larger dust bunnies that laughed and nibbled at her flesh. Soon, Fanny disappeared into a giant dust bunny that danced with every sneeze or cough that emanated from the remains of its human skeleton. 

Does It Take So Much? [RANTING]

Is this the post that moves from ranting to raving? Have I finally slid off my cracker and landed in the nuthouse? Or am I just an old soul who got lost with one foot inside the door of the future and now doesn't know whether to keep going forward or pull that foot back?

I've been reflecting on the loss of proper etiquette as we try to stay connected to friends and family who have scattered across the world. Keeping in touch should be easy with technology to aid us, but what should be an advantage can prove a hindrance for a variety of reasons. As I reflect upon them, I hope to improve my own communication as well as inspire others to be a little old-fashioned and think of how their interactions change the world around them.

First, we don't value written communication as much as we once did. Many of my friends grew up in a time before the value of words dropped from everything to nothing. They remember to mail cards for birthdays and anniversaries as well as the obligatory Christmas card. They may even give in to the temptation to reconnect for Easter or Halloween. And, of course, they send heartfelt thank you cards for everything. Inspired by such examples, I wrote personalized thank you cards for every gift I received at my baby shower before I had a chance to forget, some even got to their recipient within three days. Many people expressed surprise when I hand-delivered my gratitude. A couple even laughingly advised me that I should have claimed "baby brain" and never expressed my thanks.

This leads into my second observation, the new norm involves planning to respond when it is more convenient or conveniently forgetting. As a new mom, this has happened more than I care to admit. You read an email, start to formulate an answer, and then the crying starts. After offering comfort or food or cleaning up an explosion (poop-xplosion?), you forget to finish your missive. When prompted again to provide an answer, I include an apology with a quickly-worded response. By this point, I assume questions will follow if my response proves illogical or doesn't cover all the questions. I try not to get defensive about the repeat question. After all, I have needed to ask followup questions on more than one occasion. When the response proved defensive, I tried to smooth the ruffled feathers. When I still didn't get the answer or got another angry response, I confess I've let some friendships lapse. It shouldn't feel like a full-time job to get an answer to a simple question, especially when a "yes", "no", or "I'll have to check" would easily set my worries to rest.

My third difficulty comes as a result of so many available ways to communicate. Should I tweet, email, message, text, call, snapchat, send smoke signals...? Once someone establishes their preferred method of communication, exchanging information and extending invites becomes much easier. Though some people still refuse to respond no matter how careful you are to use the appropriate means of contact. Is it hard to be honest about how you wish to be contacted? 

THERE'S MORE:

In order to clarify for those who may wonder why so many people don't want to talk to a charmer like me, I should provide additional information. My church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) has a couple of programs that I compare to a phone tree. The program for women goes by the moniker "visiting teaching". Two women receive a list with a couple of names of other sisters in their local church (ward). They are counseled to visit those sisters each month, bring them a message, and make sure their needs, both spiritual and temporal, are being met. They report back to another sister (supervisor) who reports back to the head (president) of the women's organization of the church (Relief Society). In this way, any needs or concerns can be met without the Relief Society President needing to call the hundred plus women in her ward each month. (Men participate in a similar program called "home teaching". They get the added responsibility of teaching entire families).

As one of the supervisors, I need to contact other women from my ward to ask if they visited with the sisters on their list. Sadly, real life often keeps us from making the ideal visit (set up an appointment, arrive early to briefly meet with the sister helping you teach, knock on the door, go inside, chat a little to see how the sister and her family are doing, have an opening prayer, have a lesson, see if there is something you can do to help, have a closing prayer, present a treat). At the moment that we are being asked to account for our faithfulness in visiting teaching, we can become defensive. After a few months, creative methods must be used to avoid speaking to the person who keeps prompting us to admit our shortcomings. As the person being avoided, my feelings get hurt from time to time and some months I send one email and then try to catch them in person where I hope my smile can assure them that I come in peace.

WHAT CAN I DO?

My quick take on what I can do regardless of which side of the communication barrier I stand:

1. Be honest. Be honest about what you need and how you feel.
2. Be consistent. Don't change your opinion on how you want to contacted every day or get upset when someone calls when you said to call or emails when you said to email.
3. Be polite. Don't resort to name calling or nasty jabs. Just repeat your question if you must or send a short civil response.
4. Be empathetic. We don't all think alike, so keep in mind that the person you are communicating with may think differently than you and take that into account before sending off a nasty email or letting your feelings be hurt.
5. Respond promptly. Even if you only have time to send a "yes" or a "no", that lets the person know you got their message. Also, that frequently answers the question and lets the other person move forward. (And if you must do some research, try to get that done and your findings reported as swiftly as possible. It clears up your backlog of tasks to complete, too.) I've seen some wise advice that may help in most of these situations: only look at an email, text, etc. once. Respond immediately and move onto to the next missive.

Should I say more???

Cat Haikus [POETRY]

Willing paws will shred
The bark on the old oak tree
Before feathers fly

*

A hiss and a growl
Before grey and white fur fly
And snarls rend the air

*

A sweet face rubs yours
As a gentle purr erupts
Savage beast shows love

*

Crouch in the tall grass
Until the rodent goes by
Then tear his world apart

*

Brown wall yields easy
Silent warrior takes the foot
Of bipedal beast

The month could not end without one more poetic post and what could have been better than these cat haikus?

Step Outside [POETRY]

You disagree? Let's step outside
Want to fight me? Step outside
Don't understand? Step outside
Take my hand. We'll step outside

Step outside our small minds
Step outside arbitrary lines
Try to see the way I do
I will try to see more like you

We still won't see eye to eye
But maybe if we really try
We could learn to compromise
Based on truth not ancient lies

So speak truth, listen for peace
One step forward gives new lease
On lives that bring us closer to
People who are not quite like me or you

You Belong [POETRY]

Bonds of blood could not hold as tight
As those in my heart, I thought they might
Fade over time if I could not see your face
But you haunt me still from a distant place
I cannot place the moment you became
Family though we may not share a name
But prayers rise up for you from my lips
My heart weeps with every tear that slips
From your eye to your cheek to your chin
And I wish I could hold you again
And whisper words of comfort and peace
But I fear I shall never release
Another confession of my love for you
But if you feel embraced in all you do
Perhaps it is my soul reaching out
To the family so few know about

Break Through [POETRY]

Break through sweet moonlight
Breaking through trees of night
To touch the soul and bring life
To seeds covered by dark strife
Against darkness that enshrouds hope inside
But with one bloom of moon or sun
Hope blooms anew, life has begun
Which darkness can no longer overtake
Now tears of rain that thirst slake
And faith bursts with hope from the seed
By such a sacrifice, prisoners are freed
To go forth and spread their light
That others may escape the webs of night

Nothing [POETRY]

Nothing of your own
Take this flesh, this bone
Claim this twisted dream
And the piercing scream
Though you cannot feel
The pain that makes this real
And pulls drops of blood
Crimson heart's bud
Profess love you know not
For with lies you bought
A love meant for one who
Dared once to trust you
Whose words you took
And love you forsook...