An Unforeseen Complication

Hey, all! I was really really hoping I wouldn't have to make a post this like, but, despite weeks of working on the issue, I don't have much of a choice.

The Tuesday I posted the previous update, my laptop was working perfectly fine. There wasn't the slightest sign of anything being wrong, and it shut down normally. Things got weird when I went to turn it on the following morning. The LED keyboard lit up, but the screen remained black no matter how long I waited. I eventually went with the obvious try of turning it off to turn it back on to see if that would fix it- except I couldn't even turn the laptop off. Holding down the power button just sent the fans into overdrive. Pressing the power again quieted the fans to their normal state. Now, the laptop's battery died completely about a month after I bought the laptop seven years ago. It hasn't been in the laptop since, so I was left with pulling out the adapter to turn the computer off that way. The adapter has accidentally been wiggled loose, forcing the computer off multiple times before with no issue. This time, unfortunately, after letting the laptop rest and putting the adapter back in the machine is now entirely unresponsive.

The Blog's Upcoming Schedule

With the end of Gen Three, that means Generation Four is on the horizon. Things will be a little different this time around. The starting dates for each generation so far have been October 6th- the day Color My World originally began. With how Gen Three ended later, however, and with me being busy with new things happening at work, there's simply no way for me to begin updating again in about two weeks. I'd also like more of a break than that. I could aim for the end of October, but there lies the problem of my annual participation in NaNoWriMo where I'd stop updating normally as I have in the past. It makes the most sense to me then to simply hold off on Gen Four until December. This will give me plenty of time to prepare the story as well as take the pressure off of producing interim content in November to make up for the delay of updates. That's not to say I won't be putting up a few short stories or so. They simply won't be at the same frequency as previous years. From here on until the tentative restart date of December 3rd, the blog will be otherwise dormant. The best days to check will be Mondays, as when the short stories do come out that's when I will post them. Thank you all for reading, and I hope to see you when the next leg of this crazy journey continues!

~Kelsey

Color My World Behind the Scenes #5

Hello there! It's that time again! With the close of another generation of Color My World, I'm here to show you the weird things or interesting shots that went down while snapping shots for the story. In case you're wondering why there wasn't one of these like normal after the transition from children to teenagers of the main characters it's because there simply wasn't enough material for two such Behind the Scenes. I've gotten pretty good at directing the Sims and taking pictures without funky mishaps happening anymore. It made more sense to wait until the generation finished completely, and even then this one won't be overly long. I'll be posting an update about the near future of the blog and the continuation of Color My World tomorrow though, so be sure to check back then!

Gen Three- Chapter Forty (FINAL)

For all the impossibly long months of pain and waiting for a pregnancy to complete, the moments after the children arrived defied time. In a way, it passed as it'd passed that night with Arbor. The minutes flowed onward even as they ceased to exist. I lay in a bubble of calm and quiet where my mind couldn't fathom what lurked on the horizon. My body rested deeply in the cushioned mattress overwhelmed by exhaustion, a bit of blood loss, and an extreme amount of comforting hormone surges that was its attempt to convince me that maybe I would want to do this again in the future. Little of the pain lingered, perhaps because of that or perhaps because of the epidural still kicking. I cringed at any small idea of moving or focusing on the sounds of Russet and Timber on the other side of the wall. Sterling kicked them out not long after the second girl had been successfully delivered. He told them they weren't needed while he helped me through the after stages of labor, which was majorly true. The real reason for having them leave, of course, was to provide him and I a chance to talk privately if needed.

     "You've got two happy babies here," Sterling, having ditched the stuffy delivery outfit as soon as he could, gushed while he held the younger of the two girls, "She's smiling already. Probably because she knows she has a great mama who held on through a lot to have her here."

     "Hell yes I have," I laughed quietly, "Oh, I only wish mom could have been here. She had this big plan for the birth of her first grandchildren. How we could talk now that I can see what it was like for her to give birth to Gilly and me..."

     "You'll have the opportunity, I'm sure." Sterling encouraged optimistically.

Gen Three- Chapter Thirty Nine

These plants were something else. It was one thing to be told by my older family members of the good crazy things organizations like The Company could create, but to see new marvels for myself proved an inspiration when little else bolstered my spirits. The grapes, lettuce, potatoes, and even the dang watermelons- it was now January and those adorable plants grew with all their hearts. The help of the special light, soil, and modification to their seeds allowed them to produce more of themselves again and again ignoring their normal life cycle. I could pick off one of those watermelons, enjoy it as a snack, and have another one within two weeks. Monitoring them was a highlight of my day, leaving the months to come and go more enjoyably.

Because more months had passed. It was indeed January. Gilly, Confetti, Arbor, and I should have moved into our new house, Gilly and Confetti should have been well settled in their jobs, and I should have finished my first semester at Zenith Peak's university with Ethereal, Ephemeral, Morning, Cream, Pumpkin, and all those guys. Uncle Prism had even promised me a scene as an extra in a movie that wouldn't get cut this time. But, no...everything like that had been stolen away. Christmas had come and gone with me being stuck, and the new year had started. I thought of Confetti and Arbor the most right now. Arbor had only chosen to move because of me, and Confetti had planned her life working on the assumption she'd be with my sister forever. I doubt she thought to continue the move. Even becoming a masseuse had been done in order to stay with Gilly. What did she envision for her life now with all that gone? I placed my hand on my stomach. If...when I got out of here, I wished to make her the godmother of the older twin while Apple would be the godmother for the younger one. Maybe it might help in some way.

Gen Three- Chapter Thirty Eight

Sensitive content this chapter

It'd been about, oh, five minutes since the sound of my heavier footfalls on the treadmill and deep, labored breathing overwhelmed the sound coming from the television mounted on the wall. There was a remote if I wanted to turn it up, but the stupid thing had fallen out of the cubby and onto the floor. No way I was going to pick it up. I barely paid attention to the television anyway. If I  stopped for a second my body would refuse to let me restart the workout. It'd been two months, and the routine I set for myself strengthened me faster than ever before. I woke up at eight, ran for twenty minutes, took a cool shower, ate breakfast, did my work with the plants in the corner, watched television for a bit, and then worked out until lunch. That was where I currently was in the schedule. Still, my body protested all the time for I simply didn't have that athletic bug like Gilly had. I shook my head as I thought of her- as the brief glimpse of that picture of her and Merlot's dead bodies burned itself into my memory. I wouldn't force it out as I used the anger of it as motivation, but at the moment it was the wrong kind of motivation.

     "Dia?"

I tried not to jump as a head peeked into the door. The sounds of my struggle had masked the entrance of someone coming downstairs. My visitors were limited to two people. Timber or his dad. Occasionally the both of them when Timber insisted I needed cheering up. We'd watch television or eat a meal together. I waited in that moment for Timber to poke his head inside my bedroom as well, but Russet was alone. I refused to call him Mr. Mountain now. He didn't deserve the honor.

     "I was able to get what you asked me for." he relayed, holding up a plastic bag with several boxes inside.

     "Thanks. Just let me do my cool down and change into something better. Grab one of the dining table chairs and set it in front of the mirror in the bathroom, yeah?"

     "Sure."

Gen Three- Chapter Thirty Seven

Sensitive topic matter addressed this chapter

Waking up this time could not have been more different than it was this morning. Yesterday morning? There was no way to tell the time as my eyelids slowly fluttered open. The unfamiliar room that held me offered no windows or even a clock to let me know how long I'd been out. Dread consumed me from the instant my consciousness hesitantly returned to when I lay there in a gentle daze working through the pain exacerbating the headache I'd had. I went with the routine of wriggling my fingers and toes before moving onto my wrists and ankles before daring to move my legs, arms, waist, back, and neck. Movies and video games were bad proponents of the concept that a person could be physically knocked out without any consequences. No matter how one did it there would be injury in some way, and depending on the type of hit one could face internal bleeding, clotting, or stroke. My lone relief flittering inside my chest was that Timber had clearly done some kind of research. He'd gone for one of the safer spots to take me out. The headache flared over every inch of my skull, but everything else seemed to be working fine.

Gen Three- Chapter Thirty Six

My eyelashes fluttered, and the sun creeping up through the window flashed light into my vision. I stirred, blinked several times before deciding to keep my eyes closed, and wondered of the weird angle of the intrusion. The sun never struck me right like that.

     "Good morning." Arbor mumbled a lazy, whispered, slurred greeted as his arms gently wrapped around my core embraced me a little tighter.

Oh. Right. I wasn't in my bedroom.

     "Have you been awake long?" I asked, my voice no more eloquent than his.

     "Not too long. About fifteen minutes, I think. I've just been enjoying this."

He snuggled closer still as if he was a young child and I his teddy bear, but it made me smile.

     "Do you know what time it is?"

     "Somewhere after nine."

     "It doesn't look that late."

     "We're high up, so I guess the sun hasn't hit us as much as normal."

     "Makes sense." I yawned.

Neither of us said anything more. I'm sure thoughts of mentioning that we should get up and get going danced in the back of Arbor's brain as it did mine. However, neither of us wished to give up the freedom we'd claimed. Even with sending out parents warnings, they likely wouldn't be pleased at the vague answer and delayed return to our homes. Arbor and I had to soak in what we had while we had it. With a few more hours to go before we had to check out, I saw no reason to prod us up. In truth, I also needed time to contemplate as the two of us lay there, skin on skin, the exhaustion of the previous night still clinging in the deep parts of my muscles. I felt and probed for a difference. Logic told me there was nothing about being with a person that should have any affect on who I was, and that logic was right. The only change I could find was that my embarrassment at being exposed to Arbor was gone. The night left me falling deeper in love, and with that the boundaries that caused hesitations on being close were shattered.

Gen Three- Chapter Thirty Five

(NSFW material)

Heading down the stairs towards mom and dad's room for the forth time reminded me of when I used to babysit a younger Mint. It was as if mom was a toddler who forgot every word I said the second I moved out of sight, but in this case the whole thing was obviously intentional. Mom, throwing her own temper tantrum in a way, adamantly refused to come upstairs despite promising the last time I came down that she'd be up in a minute. With all the 'minutes' I granted her, a half hour had now passed.

     "Mom, you're thirtieth minute is up." I spoke with lighthearted warning after poking my head into the room.

Having been absentmindedly skimming through a book on her dresser, she jolted with a start to search for something to pretend to clean even though she'd long since cleaned everything and lost every excuse she had to delay.

     "I'll be right there." she answered, unable to glance my way.

     "That's what you said the last three times."

     "I just have a few things I need to do down here first."

     "No, you don't. You're lying to avoid helping us pack because you don't want to face the fact that Gilly and I will be leaving in a few weeks," I stated the truth hoping to break her out of her stubbornness, "Hiding down here is not going to stop that from happening."

     "I know." mom snapped, but her tone was too sad for me to feel hurt.

     "Well, okay then. I'm not going to keep coming down here, so I won't force you to help even though you promised. I'll just remind you that your time with us is limited. You're throwing away a big chance to spend quality time together before we go by hiding down here instead. If that's what you think will help you be more comforted once we're out of the house..."

Gen Three- Chapter Thirty Four

I cringed as Branch glanced at me. I'd done it again.

     "That makes twenty two." he added to the tally that'd begun once we set foot inside the comic and cafe shop.

     "Aagh," I whined, "I can't help it."

     "Sigh all you want, Dia. If you make it to forty, I'll buy you a cream scone." Rich promised.

     "I'm not counting to annoy her. I'm counting to distract her." Branch explained.

     "And I do appreciate it," I shook my head and grinned back, "But I think you're getting a little too much glee out of annoying me."

     "I have no idea what you're talking about."

     "Look. That smirk right there."

     "What smirk?"

     "Seriously..." I sighed, "Wait-"

     "Twenty Three."

     "Damn it."

     "In any case," Rich rolled his eyes in amusement, "Are we actually going to study?"

     "It's been half an hour. I suppose we can start." Branch teased.

     "Just remember, you're the one who needs the help with the test- not us."

     "Yeah." Branch pouted, unable to even joke about it.

He gave me a light punch of the arm when I chuckled. All in all, despite the light irritations of the friendly goading, Rich and Branch were doing well at keeping me distracted. Goodness knows my brain was on the verge of exploding from a week of intense stress.

Gen Three- Chapter Thirty Three

I blinked hard and let several good, long seconds pass in order to give the figure before me a chance to disappear. Me just imagining the whole situation felt like it would be a lot easier to handle, although then I had to worry about my mental health again. However, the girl remained. The silence grew thick with tension as she awaited my response while I couldn't understand how in the world I was supposed to handle something like this.

     "Have you been hiding out in my brother's room?"

Best to start simple.

     "Yes." the girl mumbled quietly.

     "How long?"

     "A-About two months now."

     "So you're the one who knocked over the lamp. Merlot was probably lying about his music player being broke too."

     "Yes," the girl hung her head, "Merlot gave me a printout of everyone's schedule so I could know when I could come out safely, but you kept being home at unexpected times."

     "Come out? Come out from where? There's nowhere to hide in here."

     "For the first few days, I hid under the bed. Then Merlot lied about needing space so he could he could get the wardrobe for me to more easily duck inside."

     "How can you hide under the bed though? The sides are way too low. I saw Merlot stuff the wardrobe full too. How is there room?"

     "Here."

The girl led me over to the bed, and, with a great heave, tilted it enough for me to see what I'd never known before. The sides did drop low, but they were only buffers. There was enough space for someone the girl's size to squeeze in. Then she took me to the wardrobe where she opened the doors to show me how now only the high top shelf contained my brother's stuff.

     "The bed worked temporarily, but it's too difficult for me to lift up and roll under with any sort of speed. Merlot only filled up the wardrobe to trick everyone into thinking it was full so no one might think it being a hiding place if they started to suspect someone was around. He just filled it up with empty boxes."

Gen Three- Chapter Thirty Two

A deep churning of fire burned my stomach almost as much as it ravaged its way up my arms and down my legs. The amount of weight I was using for my workout was nothing compared to what Gilly and Confetti could handle, and even then I had to take a heaving break between each rep to make sure my body wasn't falling apart. Perhaps it made more sense to decrease the weight further, but with how pitiful the number already was I really didn't want to admit defeat. I realized bitterly that I would have to stop soon anyway lest I be useless the rest of the day.

    "Oh, it's you over here," mom spoke as she suddenly approached from the arch, "This is new. Not even Gil gets up this early to workout."

    "Exercising is best done in the morning, and I have to head out earlier than she does." I replied.

I held my breath to create the illusion the strain on my muscles wasn't absolute agony. However, the sweat on my skin and that my lungs refused to be silenced broke that immediately. Mom gave me an amused, studious look that caused me to cringe.

     "You wouldn't be trying to get more fit to look better for a certain someone, would you?"

     "No," I refused firmly and stubbornly, although my cheeks already burned brighter, "It's just that...you remember the reason Arbor gave when he had me start running before he left. That I'm healthy but mostly coasting by on good genetics. I have to put more focus on maintaining myself, so I thought I'd pick up the habit of trying again."

     "Yet it is only once he's here again that this motivation has returned?" mom prompted knowingly with a giggle.

     "Think whatever you want." I replied with a little too much bite.

Mom's expression softened instead of hardened, and, thankfully, she let the teasing stop as she took my snap in stride.

     "You do seem happier now that he's back though. It's good to see."

Gen Three- Chapter Thirty One

The frigid air cut right through me, but I enjoyed every brush of its icy touch. My mind hadn't stopped spinning all night. Despite being calm and doing the right thing with Blaze, the endless questions bludgeoned around in my mind even though they had no place to be there. I kept imagining all the ways the situation could have gone wrong. I double-guessed every action or perceived wasted second. Heck, I even fretted about potential downfalls that were out of my control entirely. The big one my stupid mind played over and over again was imagining grandpa's car hitting a patch of ice and skidding off the road with all us inside. That's why I didn't mind the winter wind. It refreshed my body and caught those annoying thoughts without mercy.

It helped that everything was fine too. Blaze fell asleep last night stable and content as if nothing ever happened. Grandpa and I came again this morning for a nice, long visit. He remained inside, but I'd eventually been ushered on my way. A simple text to let Gilly know I was coming back then froze me in a way the wind never could.

I notice the time.

It's already eleven. Arbor's plane should have landed at eight, which meant he'd gotten home around nine. Three hours. He'd been back in Berrybrook for three hours. He was so close My fingers quivered as I scrolled down my message history. For whatever reason, I thought I'd seen his name near the top with words waiting to be read. His name, in fact, sat far down on the list with words he'd sent long ago that'd been read but never responded to. Hurriedly locking the screen, I pocketed my phone and moved on my way. What an ass I was. How could I be disappointed his first thought wasn't to get in touch with me?

Gen Three- Chapter Thirty

For the first time in several weeks, Apple and I arrived at my house on time. It'd never been so hard as it had been this past semester to be punctual. The difficulty of my college courses meant I had to wait long amounts of time after class in order to be able to ask my professors questions while my classmates also tried to do the same, and Apple, as dad's apprentice at the bookstore, had a never-ending list of things to do. Since we almost always carpooled nowadays, that meant the severity of our lateness increased even more. One would think the arrival of winter break would make the whole thing easier. However, I naturally took what classes I could during the holiday season as well. I'd gotten some rest around Christmas, but now that it was the new year I was right back at it.

     "Ah, looks like your mom and dad got around to taking down the Christmas lights." Apple easily noticed while we trudged towards the front door.

     "Yeah, but it also looks like Merlot once again couldn't be bothered to shovel the walkways like he was told. That boy has gotten so unmotivated as of late." I sighed.

     "Teenagers, huh?" Apple chuckled.

     "I was never like that when I was his age."

     "But you're you, Dia. No one can match that."

     "Well, he can at least try."

Apple shrugged in amusement and grandly opened the door for me in order to make up for my brother's lack.

CMW Characters' D&D Classes- Part 1

As I'm still dealing with various situations over on my end, there's still not a CMW update this week. I do have something for you guys though. I've done a post in the past showing off my D&D characters made using this doll maker. I thought it would be fun to take some CMW characters, specifically some from the First Generation, give them classes, and dress them up to match. The classes aren't what the characters themselves would choose to play, but what classes I feel the characters fit given their own personalities, hobbies, and backgrounds. Some came out wonderfully, and some I had to compromise on due to the limitations of what the doll maker provided. Hope you find them fun! As always, click on the pictures to view them in their full glory :)

A More Personal Announcement

To let everyone know, there will be no update this coming Monday. That is due to a sudden and sad development with my family. My last remaining grandparent, my paternal grandfather, died this week while he was swimming in the Atlantic. He and the woman he was with got caught in a riptide. After an hour of swimming, the woman got out, but my grandfather was unable to do the same. The police tried to revive him when they found him, but he was long gone. We're still waiting for the autopsy to complete and otherwise trying to figure things out, so I need a little extra time to focus on that without having to worry about staying on my posting schedule. Thank you for your understanding.

~ Kelsey

Color My World Short Story #9

Eden was the only one who'd moved by the time I returned. After spending so much of the night hard at work madly finishing up our plan with our person on the inside to bring down The Company, it'd been my turn to take another break. The first had been to return home to check on the two lovebirds, and checking up on them had made the rest of my task harder. Getting extra clothes and other things out of my room proved incredibly difficult with Amaranth and Ethereal all cuddled up in my bed.  Amaranth had stirred for one brief moment, but with the glassy gaze of sleep in his eyes I doubted he'd even remember seeing me when he woke up for real. I'd made sure to leave him and Ethereal a note though. The second break now consisted of me taking a nap, washing up as much as I could, and getting a bite to eat. I'd had rougher nights, but this one was certainly going to be ingraining itself firmly in my noggin for the rest of my years to come. Not just because of the stress, but because of the aftermath our humble group would cause upon our success.

     "B, it's more than past your turn if you want to get some sleep or something."

While we knew each other's real names, we used each other's codenames here.

     "Good luck, U. He's not having a break," our orange friend, G, told me with a grin, "It took all my effort just to get him off his computer and onto the couch."

An Update About Two Things

Hiya there! I've just got a few things to update you guys on before the new week begins. Third Generation's Chapter Twenty Nine marked the end of Dianthus' teenage years, which means I've been hard at work prepping everyone and the town for the fourth and final part of her arc. Naturally, that means that drastically cut into my time prepping the next chapter, which is why there will be one more short story on Monday to give me the extra week to focus on the content instead.

The second update is about my work I've been producing on Tapas. For those that don't know, it's a novel/comic sharing website that hosts both partnered content and free content posted by its users. I started a story there, Devout, that updates each Tuesday. Recently, they've posted a notice saying they're starting an event for brand new stories that offers the chance of becoming partnered and earning money for one's work. I haven't fully committed to participating just yet, but I've been putting something together. Depending on how well I think I can handle the increased workload, I'll start that second story. Of course I don't plan to have that affect the content on the blog, but I do want to put the knowledge out there that there might be a slightly increased scattering of me doing more short stories when I get behind. I can't say for certain on the likelihood and consistency of such a thing happening yet as naturally everything's still very much up in the air. I simply wanted to give you all a heads up. That is all.

Hope you have a great day!

Gen Three- Chapter Twenty Nine

Sensitive topic matter addressed this chapter

I hadn't been in Mr. and Mrs. Thicket's bedroom enough for it to be weird. Somehow, given how open they were, I doubted they'd be upset if they caught Arbor and I even if it would be humiliating for all parties involved. I got the impression though they'd be happy that Arbor was taking another step back on the path to being normal. Yes, this was normal. He and I were a couple. He and I were both adults. This was what adult couples did.

However, I knew there were parts to this that were far from normal. Arbor and I held each other close. Our lips hardly parted, our legs intertwined, he'd taken off his shirt, and our breathing was ragged. By this point, I knew I should be feeling the same desire I could feel he had for me. It was true my body reacted when Arbor's caressing slowly wandered nearer towards those parts, and the surge of sensation scattering up and down every inch of my core hinted at why my sister and her girlfriend couldn't keep their hands off each other. However, as soon as Arbor's touch retreated so did the feeling. All that remained was warmth. A warmth I loved more than the pleasure. I was so utterly enraptured by the man with me. It scalded my body with a happiness, with a security, with a peace of true belonging I almost started to cry. This was why I wanted to be with him. Because we were right. Because by being together we created something good in a world that could be cruel.

Gen Three- Chapter Twenty Eight

Reality sunk in more after the police left. Gilly hadn't been able to stand listening to the report, so that made it mom, dad, and me hearing of the travesty while Blaze did his best to console my sister. I heard and understood every word the police said, yet at the same time I hardly listened. As soon as they offered to show us the pictures of Mirage and Tappy and I said yes, I was gone. They hadn't been strangled or tied up with rope. No, the killer had taken it to a new level. Mirage's head had been cut off and sewn on Tappy's body. Tappy's head had been cut off and sewn on Mirage's body. Then their paws had been stitched together as if holding hands. According to the report, they'd been left quite far in the woods. It took all that time and a lucky, or perhaps unlucky, pair of hikers to find them. It made the police wonder if the killer was the same as the cats usually ended up being found in much more populated areas, but the killer could also have wanted more space between the crime and time of discovery. The city had grown so alert about the situation that the murders had become more and more sparse over the past several months. The majority of the stray cats had been rounded up, and everyone watched their owned pets.

     "Dia, I'm so sorry."

The tears must have come rolling down. I thought I just sat there. Motionless and heartbroken I thought I sat, but I didn't feel the wetness cascading from my eyes until dad knelt before me and gently wiped it away with his thumbs. Then he gathered me a tight embrace as mom scooted over to wrap my back and hold my hand. 

     "I just hope this is the last time. If something from this helps them find the killer, I could accept that." I mumbled hopelessly.

     "They have to be catching the person soon." mom encouraged.

I nodded miserably, even though the whole city had been saying that for months. 

Gen Three- Chapter Twenty Seven

No matter how hard I tried, the unsettled feeling in my stomach wouldn't ease. It was if a giant wave rolled and bulged- threatening from the distance to flood and destroy everything, yet no matter how long I waited the wave didn't come. It stalked and loomed, but never delivered what it promised. I couldn't take my eyes away though. If I did, certainly that would be the moment it came crashing down on me. My breaths had to be forced to stay slow and sure, and then there would be moments where I realized I held my breath completely. That's why I hoped a great hope as I walked up the stairs to my brother's room. I knew the situation. I knew how he would be when I walked in there. If I simply confirmed it once more, then maybe the frightened ache in my body would finally leave.

     "Merl, are you awake?" I asked, knocking on the door.

     "Yeah, come in!"

His voice was bright and cheerful.

Gen Three- Chapter Twenty Six

I'd known it was inevitable, but I still dreaded its happening. Mom and dad were, needless to say, once again incredibly surprised to find me home earlier than normal. I'm sure my face looked a mess after all the crying, and there was no way I could lie to them anymore when I admitted I hadn't come home because I was sick. Dad's eyes narrowed more and more as I told my parents about my outing with Arbor, what we had done, and his actions today. My story had hardly finished before dad dove for his phone. I bet Mr. and Mrs. Thicket regretted giving him their phone number. Still, my curiosity drove me to stick around for the call. Whether to help comfort me or give me a snack for the show, mom permitted me and her free range of our ice cream. Not that I found the stomach to eat much.

     "Yeah, well that's what he said last time!" dad stomped around irately, "How many times has he had to apologize now? We keep giving him the benefit of the doubt, and every other week it's something new he's putting Dianthus through!"

I wished I could hear the other half of the conversation. Dad's protectiveness was reassuring, but not knowing completely what was going on wasn't overly satisfying.

     "If he actually cares about what he did, put him on the phone already! Those words don't mean anything from you!"

There was another pause. Dad at least let whichever one of Arbor's parents on the other end finish their sentences.

     "What nonsense! He's an adult now, right? That's what Dia told us. You hiding him behind your back is probably half the reason why he has the maturity of a five-year-old brat!"

     "Coal." mom rebuked.

He frowned, but got the message.

Gen Three- Chapter Twenty Five

Much to my surprise, Arbor and I ended up deep into the city. My plan for hanging out with him naturally hadn't been thought out with great depth. Dancing and hanging out at the festival brought Arbor out of his shell in a way I hadn't expected, but keeping that shell open proved to be the challenging part. He closed back into his general apathetic attitude even though he remained receptive enough to my prods and encouragements. When I asked if there was somewhere he wanted to go, he went ahead and answered without hesitation. Arbor wanting to get ice cream from a particular shop was was took us into Berrybrook's heart, and it was where I learned that he had a strong preference for all things pistachio flavored. The weather was too nice to stay inside, so the two of us wandered here and there until we approached the Twilight North's branch campus. Arbor was willing to walk even long after our treats were devoured.

Gen Three- Chapter Twenty Four

Ethereal and Ephemeral, as usual, had seemingly endless amount of energy. They were always the last ones to fall asleep at sleepovers and were typically the first ones to rise as well. Gilly and I had done everything we could to tire them out over the weekend, but even after spending the whole day guiding them around the city the twins walked with a spring in their step while my sister and I struggled to keep up. Ethereal and Ephemeral claimed their pep was due to being raised completely in Tinseltown. With everything constantly moving at a rapid pace there, one had to adapt to not be left behind.

     "Oh, wow! It looks amazing!" Ethereal gushed as we neared our next destination.

     "It's so big for a family owned bookstore too." Ephemeral added.

     "Well, it's now a bookstore and cafe proper. Dad technically owns both parts, but Aunt Mimi really runs the first floor." Gilly explained as we reached dad's business.

The three story building was unlike anything the old bookstore used to be. It wasn't even on the same lot anymore. Flooding had been a constant background threat for the building even before those crazy rainy years, and with most of his hard work being lost thanks to the hurricane dad hadn't hesitated on buying up a better location. The lot near the hospital provided room for expansion as well as heavier traffic for better sales.

Color My World Short Story #8 Part Five (FINAL)

Amaranth's expression had gone through a roller coaster of emotions as the story was told. Thus, I gave him a big smile as I wrapped it all up.

     "Rose made sure to visit Ethereal more often after that. She was the only one who could really connect with what Ethereal was going through, and Ethereal felt a lot better having someone who did understand. That's not to say she perked up all bright and cheerful overnight, but she did address her grief properly from then on. There was even a period of five months where she went to see a therapist."

     "I see. Thanks for telling me all this, Lia. I've been trying to get more of what Ethereal went through out of her, but, well, you obviously know how stubborn she can be," Amaranth laughed, "There's no way things could have been anything other than painful, but she's been brushing it off saying she's fine now."

     "I can understand enough why she has been brushing it off though. No one wants to think back to such tough times, and I'm sure she doesn't want to make you feel bad. Goodness knows the guilt has been written on your face thickly since you got back."

     "But worrying about me should be her last concern. Ethereal's the one who's now dealing with cancer of all things. Things like me getting upset about her and Al sharing one kiss...there's no way I would be bothered when she's had the worst of it all these years."

     "Does it bother you though?" I asked curiously.

     "No. Not at all," Amaranth denied instantly, "To be honest, despite us both saying long ago that we were the only ones for each other I never quite believed Ethereal. I'd see her with Al. It was clear she could indeed love other people. I fully expected to see her with some other guy when I came back, and I was prepared to leave her be if that was the case. The fact that she still waited for me, that the only romantic exploration she'd had was a kiss with a guy who'd already been her close friend and boyfriend- of course I could only be relieved it turned out that way."

One More Week

Due to temporary increased hours at work and more prep needed for the upcoming CMW chapters, I'll once again be posting the next installment for the current short story instead of the next CMW chapter. This should hopefully be the last time I have to do this for a while. Who knew rebuilding a bunch of lots would take a while? :) I wish you all a merry week!

Happy Arbor Day

Happy Arbor Day! Here's a happy Arbor!

Gen Three- Chapter Twenty Three

That Saturday was hardly different than any other. At least at the beginning. Mom drove me to the Twilight North branch campus for me to have my morning classes, which were a pain to attend seeing as how they started at seven in the morning. I was out by eleven though. Normally I would do a bit of indulgent shopping or meandering about in the city before I took a bus or taxi home, but this time I headed straight to the city park. Merlot wanted to play there for a while, and I was to be his babysitter. Mom and dad had been letting him go off on his own now, but the cat killings had them more on edge. After the fourth had been found, things had thankfully somewhat slowed down with that whole situation. The person clearly garnered more attention than he or she wanted. No killings happened, or at least were made public, for two weeks. One popped up again on the third week. A week of silence came before a fifth cat, this time one that wasn't a stray, had been found last night. There were no signs the person was attempting to come after people, but mom and dad naturally didn't want to take any chances they didn't have to. They wanted Merlot to have supervision, so supervision I would provide. Timber, however, had been nice enough to agree to accompany my brother and me. He walked Merlot to the park before keeping me entertained as Merlot ran all over.

     "They're really going all out, aren't they?" Timber laughed.

     "They seriously are," I chuckled back, "Gil and Confetti are even talking with some baker who makes food and treats specifically for animals. The cake those two want to get is being quoted for them at seventy-five dollars."

     "I mean, if this is important to them, I say go for it. I just hope they remember to get food for the non-animals to eat too."

     "I did have to remind them of that fact. Gil looked at me in pure confusion and then when 'oh, yeah' when it sank in."

     "Thank you for making sure we won't starve," Timber patted my back encouragingly, "When will the 'wedding' be?"

     "A few more weeks. The weekend after the dance. It was going to be sooner, but now that Gilly's on the homecoming court she has to divide her attention more."

     "I'm still surprised you turned down your chance to be on court. You were elected because there were that many people writing you in. You could have won easily."

Gen Three- Chapter Twenty Two

Gilly and I were woken up to Merlot bursting into our room excitedly revealing grandpa had made french toast for breakfast. Our brother could be picky with his food, but if there was one thing he couldn't deny it was anything drenched in syrup. I know I certainly got a good smile out of watching him bounce around as if Christmas had come early when grandpa handed him his plate also smothered in powdered sugar. Merlot's appetite never ended, but it'd been getting worse now that he was on the fringes of puberty. He finished one plate and got another by the time I ate my first four slices.

     "Who's house did you say will you be at today, Dia?" dad asked after gulping down another large mouthful of his own second serving.

     "Arbor Thicket's, the new guy in our grade. From what I heard, he lives down by Mama Rose's and Papa Jac's house."

     "How late do you think you'll be out?"

     "I can't say for certain, but definitely not all that late. We just have to decide the first three books we'll be using for the beginning of the project. We might go to the library, but Arbor and I will most likely just decide what we want and get the books separately."

     "Alright. Call me if you want a ride home."

     "Of course."

I gave dad the biggest smile I could muster. His expression easily projected his continuing worry caused by the dead cat incident the previous afternoon. Dad was scheduled to be at the bookstore until late again, so him being willing to shirk work for a little if I needed it was quite endearing. However, I had no concerns about not being able to handle myself. I naturally still felt bad for the cat, but I wasn't going to start bursting into tears about it at this point.

Gen Three- Chapter Twenty One

A smile rotated my lips even as I rolled my eyes. In the middle of a phone call with Ephemeral, I had to applaud the girl's stubbornness.

     "Seriously, Dia, you have to come to August's party! We had so much fun last year, remember?"

     "It was a lot of fun, Ephie, but-"

     "And it's going to be even better now. Because we were so well behaved and respectful of the rules, his parents are going to let it be bigger and full of a bunch of other stuff they didn't allow last time!"

     "I-"

     "Oh, are you talking to Dia?" another familiar voice joined the conversation, "Hi, Dia!"

     "Hi, Ethie." I laughed as I imagined her leaning against her sister to get near the phone.

     "Is Ephie bullying you again into coming to the party?"

     "Of course. She's been doing nothing else for the past few weeks even though I told her it's too much of a bother for me and Gilly."

     "The party does fall on that long weekend though, you know." Ethereal pointed out.

     "And that's the only reason I considered it for a moment. My answer is still no."

     "But you could see us again, and Ember, Flurry, and Acer too!" Ephemeral kept trying.

     "It's barely been a week since we were down there in Tinseltown!" I reminded her in amusement.

Color My World Short Story #8 Part Four

As I sipped on my coffee and stared at my companion at the table, my thoughts whirred. Dahlia coming up to me eagerly asking me to 'break' Ethereal had been a confusing moment for sure. Then when my daughter-in-law properly explained what she meant, I'd agreed readily. Dahlia could understand the path Ethereal was grazing by due to her experiences with her father. I could see the buried pain and agony because of a highly similar situation to Ethereal's I'd been in for the longest time. Naturally, I knew that was why Dahlia had put the task before me. Even Eden couldn't get through to his sister. The issue was bad. My words and actions were basically our last line of defense short of Amaranth abruptly returning, and that was why I'd played this afternoon tentatively. Ethereal knew very well why Dahlia asked her to come to me today. She'd walked in with a high wall around her heart awaiting the barrage. Things were more comfortable now that the two of us had done nothing other than genuinely enjoy a quiet afternoon together, but it also wasn't as if I was going to let her walk out the door with nothing changing. How to ease in to addressing the topic, however, that was what my brain struggled to handle.

Tomorrow's Update

Tomorrow's update will be the 4th part of the current series of short stories for Color my World. Prepping for the teenage years of the Third Generation took up all the time I usually use to make new chapters, which means I've gotten caught up on. Chapter Twenty One isn't ready yet, so I'll be using the next week to get back on track on having a stockpile of chapters. Hope you don't mind!

Gen Three- Chapter Twenty

I closed the door to Canary's room in a hurry. We'd lied and said Ember felt a little unwell to have some privacy.

     "You're dating my teacher's son?" I asked in dumbfounded disbelief, "You're pregnant with Divi's grandchild?"

     "That's a yes to both questions, but don't forget that I knew Tam waaaay before Mr. Divine ever became your teacher. Never in a million, trillion years would I have predicted you and Gilly would end up in his class. Hell, I honestly never imagined getting the chance to meet Tam in the flesh. Our relationship was so casual before we moved here. I thought the two of us would find our feelings fizzling out eventually. Then we did move here..."

     "No wonder you said it would be awkward to know who your boyfriend is."

     "I can't believe it just came out like that. I had no idea they would be coming to the party. It's making me incredibly nervous what with Tam being right in dad's sight. I feel like if I go down there dad'll just somehow read my mind and put it all together. It's my first time meeting Tam's parents too. At least they're in the dark about this so far."

     "Yeah, about that..."

Gen Three- Chapter Nineteen

Gilly and I contemplated going up on the balcony to watch some television, but we couldn't bring ourselves to do it. The noise steadily growing from the kitchen would reach us anyway, and it's not like we would pay attention to what would be playing in the first place. Our room filled with an eerie calm as my sister and I listened to the muffled ranting, mostly belonging to dad, while trying to discern the words being said even as we wished the whole thing would stop.

     "At least Merl isn't here," Gilly sighed after a few minutes, "Poor thing can't handle conflict like this."

     "Yeah." I nodded, scratching Mirage as she nuzzled against my arm.

Merlot was at Uncle Prism's house hanging out with Crescent again.

     "What do you think she did?" my sister finally went with that question.

     "I don't know. I'm guessing whatever she was doing before, but I don't understand how she could have been doing it. Not with her being so heavily grounded and with officers watching us."

     "Maybe that's why dad's so mad...because she snuck out while we might be in danger."

     "Could be."

I recalled the pictures and videos taken of dad when he'd been recovering from the weeks those company people had him. He'd looked so battered and bruised. Him being terrified of something like that happening to Ember did fit logically with his rage.

Gen Three- Chapter Eighteen

It took me another minute or two to convince my brain my friend was indeed before me and that my mind wasn't teasing me with a dream. I was, in fact, wide awake, and Timber's surprise arrival prompted such an energy boost that I then hurriedly rushed him out of our room so Gilly and I could change. Then we could get the day started for real.

     "Will you please just admit you might like him a little?" Gilly teased as she came up behind me admiring myself in the mirror.

     "I will not because I do not like him. Not like that," I rolled my eyes, too done with this kind of conversation to be annoyed, "I think I look good today. That's all."
     "Why did you choose today of all days to spend extra time on your hair and stuff then? It's a suspicious coincidence."
     "I don't know. We haven't seen Timber in a while. I don't want him to think I've been lazy or something, I guess."
     "Mmhmm."
     "You're impossible, Gil."
     "So I've heard."

Gen Three- Chapter Seventeen

They'd all told me to give up. Well, they hadn't said it that exact way. Dad and grandpa had done their best to get to our house from their airport before we had to leave for school, but with delays and traffic and complications with their taxi my siblings and I would simply have to wait until we got back from school to see them instead. I'd pouted and fussed and gotten ready regardless, but not once had my eyes stopped watching the window. The clock on the wall showed we had two minutes before we left. All my wishing power thrust towards seeing a car coming towards our house. When I glanced out the window several seconds later, my eyes stung with merry tears as familiar red faces could be seen sitting in the back seat of a bright yellow car pulling up alongside the road.

     "Dad!"

The door was slammed open as I burst outside without any regards for who was around or the commotion I was making. All I cared about was them being there, and the instant dad saw me barreling towards him he just smiled and hunkered down to prep for my impact.

Gen Three- Chapter Sixteen

In the past, I usually rolled my eyes when peopled used the expression that they had 'died and gone to heaven.' The statement almost always came out corny, and I believed the sentiment to be a vast over-exaggeration. Now, however, I had to take back my thoughts. The afternoon when mom revealed we would be moving into the large house Gilly had found and so desperately wanted had been overwhelming with joy enough. Now that we were actually in front of the place about to head inside to claim our temporary house, I seriously couldn't remember the last time in my life I'd been so excited. My head swarmed with a raptured dizziness while my cheeks burned in anticipation as if I'd been standing in the sun all day.

     "Thank you!" Gilly squealed, reaching up to squeeze mom's neck from behind as we drove up.

     "Thank your grandfather," mom replied before laughing and shaking her head, "I should have known Amaranth would be all for this place. Seriously, the second he got the link he told me to take whatever money I needed from his account to be the highest bidder. Even at over sixty, he's still one of the biggest children I've ever met."

     "Damn right." Blaze laughed along with a knowing twinkle in his eye.

Color My World Short Story #8 Part Three

I found her door cracked halfway open as I reached her room. When I spotted Ethereal standing there hovering over that generic snow globe both she and Amaranth loved so much for some reason, I could sense the weight of grief resting within my friend's chest. It didn't matter if Ethereal stood there like she stood now with straight shoulders and a neutral expression. A looming darkness thrashed against the chilling walls built that she didn't realize would freeze the rest of her in time. The cold had numbed all the warning signs she thought she looked out for. The path Ethereal blatantly walked down was one I was all too familiar with, and now that I knew what it meant this time I wasn't going to stand by idly.

     "Oh, Lia," Ethereal jumped in surprise, turning around to greet me with a smile after I tapped on the door frame for a knock, "I didn't know you were coming over."

     "Well, since it worked out that all the kids are off, I thought I'd pop over for a quick visit. It's been a while since we hung out by ourselves."

There was no coincidence in Ethereal's usually filled household being empty. It had taken Allium and I several days to plan it out, but we'd gotten all her children invited somewhere else to play while I requested to her other friends and family to not invite her anywhere. None of them were oblivious to her quiet suffering either, which made them all too happy for me to take a chance to steer her back on the right road.

Updated Directory

Not a big announcement, but I've just finally gone ahead and updated the CMW directory page to include all the short stories posted so far for easier access. Check it out!

Gen Three- Chapter Fifteen

The smile that had been on my lips faded as he laughed.

     "You really don't remember?" Timber wondered.

     "It was kind of a stressful day," I shrugged, "I'm surprised you remember. You didn't look any more focused than I did."

We were recalling the crazy day we'd hoped to meet with Timber's mother. I'd mentioned to my friend that one of my new classmates was in the popular show Glassblown, but that I hadn't ever really seen it. That's when Timber revealed the morning before we left for the lake we'd watched nothing else.

     "I was hyper-focused because I was so stressed." Timber said too confidently.

     "I'm not sure that's something to be proud of." I teased with a laugh.

     "Maybe not," he chuckled, "Anyway, want to get me autograph? It'd be cool to have something signed by a famous person."

     "If you want something written by a famous person, I'll just give you Uncle Prism's shopping list."

     "That sounds even better." Timber went along playfully.

Gen Three- Chapter Fourteen

I expected Zenith Peak to be fancy given that it was a private school in one of the most affluent places in the world, but Zenith Peak went far past fancy. Mom and Aunt Taffy didn't just pull up to a nice building and drop us off. They pulled up to a parking lot in front of an expensive looking road gate where Canary and Crescent had to get out because all typical students took shuttles to their respective buildings. Zenith Peak, apparently, was a series of buildings much like a college campus settled up against the hills. The actual college campus was a bit further down the way. Aunt Taffy drove us up to the gate, some guards double checked the permission she had to drive us new students to the buildings directly, and off we were in this crazy other world. The high school was the closest, so Ember got taken inside first. Then came the elementary, and Merlot was off. The middle school was the farthest away, and Gilly and I hopped out of the car with wide eyes.

     "This feels so..." I began slowly.

     "Excessive?" Gilly finished for me.

     "Yeah."

     "Perhaps a little." Aunt Taffy laughed as she ushered us inside.

Don't Forget to Keep Up with Devout!

If you haven't already, come check out my new novel being posted over on Tapas.io titled Devout, a story of a young woman on her own with no memories in country gone to war where she must keep herself and the child in her care safe. A new chapter is posted each Tuesday. Devout is currently up to its third chapter. Subscribe on to Devout on Tapas to be alerted when updates go live!

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Gen Three- Chapter Thirteen

My ears picked up the sound of someone opening the door, but my brain decided not to do anything with the information until several seconds later. There was a gentle 'thumping' sound, a surprised squeal, and the laughter of two voices.

     "Uncle Prism!" Gilly did her best to chastise the sudden intruder.

It was clear by the way he squished her by laying on top of her that our uncle had chosen to lovingly and teasingly wake her up in a ridiculous manner. Gilly's brows furrowed as she tried to frown, but the tickling of her sides by Uncle Prism prevented her fake annoyance from lasting for a single second.

     "Dad, c'mon. My alarm hasn't even gone off yet. Some of us still have to go to school." Canary mumbled, giving us a sleepy glance before turning away from everyone and pulling her sheets closer.

     "Good morning, and hello," Uncle Prism greeted us while ignoring her, "Glad to see you all made it safely. Sorry I couldn't make it yesterday."

     "Well, then we wouldn't have arrived safely. We heard you really wanted to prank us." Gilly responded merrily with a raised brow as she sat up.

     "A lost opportunity, but I'm sure I'll make up for it somewhere."

     "Just as long as we get to help you prank dad when he comes down."

     "Oh, definitely. I've got a whole list intricately planned for when he arrives." Uncle Prism smirked.

Gen Three- Chapter Twelve

Mom couldn't have told a less funnier joke. Then, I glanced around again at the mostly empty house, and I made myself stop being stupid. I didn't want to move, but the storm raged with extra fury outside in that very moment and I understood why we were.

     "Moving? Why?" Merlot went ahead and asked anyway.

     "There's no other choice. Berrybrook has dealt with flooding before, but never on a scale like this. The last time a hurricane made its way all the way up here was over seventy years ago, and it was only a category two. This one now is at its full strength, and with how badly it's been raining all year I'm not exaggerating when I say a good portion of the city is going to be underwater. That includes this neighborhood as well. We're incredibly close to the ocean, and we're settled at the bottom of a small valley. I wouldn't be surprised if the flooding made it up to the second floor. In any case, if the city doesn't start ordering mandatory evacuations by tonight, they'll have to by tomorrow."
     "And that's why you've started packing everything up." I spoke.
     "Exactly. Amaranth and I have been working hard all day here while your father has been calling in whoever was willing to come in to help him take care of the store. We hired some trucks and movers, and we've already gotten two full trucks on their way. The majority of our things are going to be placed in a storage center much further in state."

Come and Read "Devout"!

The story I'm publishing on Tapas is now live! Please come check it out here when you have a moment (^^) The full art for the thumbnail is below, done by agreenu at Tumblr.

Color My World Short Story #8 Part Two

I heard the front door open and close, and every inch of my skin cringed. She puttered over to the kitchen, drawn over by the scent of the cookies I assumed, before her heels slowly clacked in my direction. I'd hoped the stupid hope that Dahlia wouldn't come into the bedroom. Perhaps, if I was very lucky, she might have forgotten I existed. That thought seemed at the moment to be the only way to make any of this simpler. However, of course she walked into our room. Of course she knew who I was.

     "Hey." she greeted as she came in.

     "Welcome back. How was the meeting?" I asked, my voice way more cheerful than I felt.

     "Gourd would not shut up, as usual, but the clients appeared very excited with the proposal in the end," Dahlia explained with an eagerness in her voice, "Almost as excited as I am to have some of the cookies. Please tell me you and Ethereal made extras."

     "Most certainly. Once you have to make two hundred of them, what's the harm in making a dozen or two more?" I did what I could to chuckle.

     "Good. Hey, how about this? Why don't we just eat all the extras and say to the girls there were no extras?"

     "Heh, I'm actually kinda cookie-d out. I came in here to get away from the smell."

     "I see. I can imagine after making that many you would be sick of them. I'm sure you ate plenty of the dough too."

     "You know me too well."