Today's Update

The posting of the short story probably makes it clear, but I've unfortunately reached a week already where I have to hold off on the main story. It feels like something always pops up at the last second to stall my work, haha. This week it was someone side-swiping my mom while she borrowed my car (she's fine) and then her car abruptly not working. I really like how this short story came out though, so I hope you don't mind popping back in time while I have the week to write the next chapter and prep for the next.

Kelsey

Color My World Short Story #11

Staring at the scene before me didn't flash my memories back. It bludgeoned them into my face at 100 miles per hour. How vividly I recalled the day I came home from work to find plums lining the windowsills, kitchen counters, and the dining table. That was Dahlia's way of announcing her first pregnancy to me. It was also her apology. The pregnancy hadn't been planned, and she'd been having one of her exploration periods with another guy. She'd used all sorts of protection with him and none with me, so the likelihood was the child was mine, but Dahlia was hung up on the fact that the child had a minuscule chance of belonging to that other man. I said I found no fault in the situation─ she'd had my permission to be with the him and protection was never foolproof. However, the plums were Dahlia's way of needlessly appeasing me. Boy or girl, I'd wanted our first child to be named Plum. The fruits were her agreeing to give me that wish without any challenge. The daughter that came that was indeed mine then became a big sister to the twin girls that followed. She cooed over them the way Gilly and Dianthus, twins, gushed over their singular little brother.

     "I want to hold him. Can I hold him?" Gilly glanced back to us, eyes shining.
   "You cannot. It's time for you and your sister to go help your Mama Lia clean her living room. That's your apology for making that huge mess the other day, remember?" Amaranth said.
     "But it was mostly Apple who did it!" Gilly whined.
     "Saying 'mostly' just means you did still have a part in it," I pointed out.

Gilly stuck her tongue out at my smirk.

     "The faster we clean, the faster we can come back," Dianthus reasoned. She bounced on her heels excitedly when looking at her brother, as if she might suddenly jump high into the sky.
     "That's true," Gilly accepted.
     "Get going then. Look both ways before you go across the street," Amaranth instructed.
     "We know!" Dianthus replied proudly.

Gen Four- Chapter Seventeen

Cinnamon bounced and skipped as we walked along, which brought a big stupid grin to my own face as well. We all clung to what made us happiest to deal with the extra stresses in our life. However, I couldn't fathom how she continued to get such overflowing joy at going to the spa after all these years. Cinnamon and Tulip forever went multiple times a week. How it hadn't become absolutely monotonous, who could say? I ran my fingers over the freshly blossomed flowers on my left while letting her ramble on about what kind of package she wanted. Perhaps to her the spa was her coffee. Something that made her function and left her grumpy when not taken advantage of.

     "Mmm! The air smells so good today. Fresh and clean!" Ruby, walking in front, gushed, stretching her arms high into the sky.

    "That's true. I'm sure it's the flowers nearby, but it's like we've stepped into an endless field of heaven," Cinnamon imagined gleefully.

She and Ruby glanced at me. I shrugged with a light smile.

     "It's alright."

Gen Four- Chapter Sixteen

My chest caught as, on this quiet morning, a lively wind sped forward caring for nothing in its way. Bearing the tangy scent of salt and a brush of moisture, it'd clearly come off the sea. However, I closed my eyes and was thrown back. Memories always hit hard around this time of year─ when the changes that led me here had begun. In that moment I stood as if I stood in that river once more. The trees in the park played the same melody as imagination had me sure cool water tugged at my legs. The taunting sun's warmth hinted hotter days approaching while the dying watch on my wrist, long outgrown, tricked me into believing I had all the time in the world. I wondered what I would do...if I did open my eyes to find myself thrust into the past with the knowledge I had now. Perhaps I finally might be able to determine what I thought about the past at all.

     "Cinnamon? What are you doing?"

Regarding CMW's Near Future Schedule

Hello, all!

With the release of Gen Four's Chapter Fifteen, Nutmeg's childhood arc has officially come to a close. Chapter Sixteen will move into her teenage years, and it feels weird to think we've reached this point with her already. That being said, I'm writing this to say that the upcoming chapters for the indeterminate future will likely not be as timely. Chapter Sixteen will not release tomorrow as I need a bit of a break and more time to prep the changes for the new arcs.

The main reason why chapters after that might not be right on time, however, is due to work. The short of it is that the location I work at, our local library, had a stagnant staff for the longest time. A large number of people began to retire right as I joined, and many of the tasks were assimilated to those who remained with the positions being chopped up and offered as part-time. (A tactic being done everywhere that I absolutely despise.) This means anyone who is hired rarely stays long, leading to a perpetual revolving door of hiring new people, which tends to go quite slow here. There's been a position open since last July that still hasn't been filled, and more people have left since then. We don't work with a lot of staff, so even a few gaps here creates much more work for those who remain. I've been picking up extra hours to help cover, but that's been why most weeks I don't have time to work on CMW until Saturday or Sunday where I furiously write all day desperately trying to get it done for Monday. While I want to avoid skipping weeks entirely, there might have to be a few more of those than normal here and there. Most of the time, however, I'll likely just need to post on late Monday or perhaps Tuesday. I'll make an announcement if a week does need to be skipped. Otherwise, I simply need the extra day.

Thank you so much for reading, and thank you for your understanding! Things will hopefully go back to normal once the positions are filled.

~Kelsey