So You Want to Be A Writer?

Amazingly well written article here, on Ms Beth Kery's blog.  Go check it out.

(Thanks Beth and not that you could write anything bad!)

Mika

I Walk Alone

Mika's Note: And apparently that's truer than I thought. LOL  Posted this to another group and didn't get a single response.  Not even a 'You suck, give it up'.  Hmmm... must be worse than I thought. *G*  Ah, the Muse will smite me for that one, I suppose. 

I walk alone

Watching, waiting

Always wondering where

This life I lead will take me

Will you still be there

Always by my side or

Will your memory wilt

And fade like a dream gone by

The future holds unknown

Every answer I seek

Time will tell

But until that day

I forever walk alone

Dakotah: Interlude ~ Bring Me the Sunset in a Cup

Mika’s Note: Yet another inspired by a writing challenge.  This one was based on the first line of an Emily Dickinson poem of the same name.  This particular piece is just a little over two years old. Poor Sierra. LOL

“Bring me the sunset in a cup…” quote the vampire. “Or how about in a bottle, little one?”

The dark-haired infant squirmed in his crib as his papa picked him up. Dakotah situated his small son against his chest and walked out of the nursery, applying the bottle of breast milk and blood to his lips.

Austen grasped at the bottle of pinkish liquid and sucked for all he was worth. Suck. Suck. Sigh. Suck. Suck. Big sigh. The vampire just shook his head and continued out into the living room where the little dhampir’s mama sat waiting.

“What was that you were mumbling back there?” she asked as she took her son.

“Poetry.”

“Poetry?” Sierra cocked an eyebrow. “A vampire who quotes poetry?” She shook her head. “Now, I really think I’ve seen everything.”

“You ain’t seen nothin’ yet,” Dakotah grinned, doing his best ‘punk’ impersonation.

“Sheesh. What a dork.”

“I’d be careful if I were you, Sierra. This dork has fangs.” He gave her a mock growl.

“Oh yeah. Riiight. Fangs. I think they’re how I got into this situation in the first place,” she lifted the baby outward just a bit to indicate she meant him. “Like I’m sooo scared.”

“Bring me the sunset in a cup,” he began. “Reckon the morning’s flagons up, And say how many dew:”

Sierra raised both eyebrows and looked at her husband oddly.

“Tell me how far the morning leaps, Tell me what time the weaver sleeps, Who spun the breadths of blue!”

“Wow. I’m impressed.”

“It’s Emily Dickinson, and just the first verse. I became enamored of the poem the moment I first read it all those years ago. Nothing has spoken to me quite like these words. It defines a piece of my life that no one quite understands.” He paused and watched her burp their son. “Well, no one that isn’t like me, that is.”

Dakotah walked over and sat beside Sierra. “Please, let me have him again.” Once Austen was nestled quietly against his chest, he went on. “It’s almost like, ‘tell me a story’ and tell me about the day, all you see, all you experience without me by your side. “

“Interesting. So, what brought all this on?”

“I’m not quite sure,” he confessed. “I think it was something about the color of Austen’s dinner.”

Sierra studied her husband for a moment realizing that even after all this time there was still a world of things she did not know about him, and most of which she may never get the chance to discover. That there was more depth to this supposed creature of the night than there was to most ‘deep thinkers’ of her time. She smiled as she wondered what this meant for their child and what kind of man he’d grow to be.

Dakotah: Blood Oath: Chapter 4

Mika’s Note: I’m not sure about this chapter, I teenk it sucks.  And not in the same way Dakotah does. LOL  Oh well ~ this is what I get for taking so long to get where I was going.  *sigh*

Sierra screamed as her heart started beating again. Painfully hard. Awareness flared around her, light stabbing her eyes. Blinking rapidly, she looked around at the scared and concerned faces surrounding her. “What happened?” she whispered.

Dr. Anders cleared his throat. “Apparently, you have a weak heart, Sierra. Giving birth nearly killed you.”

Her eyes widened in fear. “The baby…”

“…is fine,” Dakotah reassured her. “He’s healthy and screaming in the nurse’s arms.”

“Where?”

“In the lobby,” Cheyenne squeezed her sister’s arm. “Are you okay?”

Sierra began to nod yes and then shook it no instead. “I’m not sure. Why do I feel so… weird?”

“Weird how,” Dr. Anders questioned.

She shrugged. “I don’t know how to explain it. Things seem… brighter, clearer somehow.”

“Damnit,” Dakotah growled, “you promised.”

Backing away from the angry vampire, the doctor held up his hands protectively. “I didn’t think…”

“Think? No you surely didn’t think Doctor!”

Before Dakotah could rip out anyone’s throat, Sierra interrupted anxiously, “What the hell are you two arguing about.”

Dakotah scrunched his face up into a look of disgust and despair, an odd combination on so elegant a face. “He insisted I share my blood with you. He was afraid you were going to perish and that was the only way to save you. I refuse to force you to suffer like I have.” He turned and glared at the doctor. “And now it’s too late.”

Sierra was horrified. She knew the hell he suffered through day in and day out. They’d discussed this very thing time and time again, and always came to the same conclusion: neither of them wanted her to come to the dark side. “So I’m now… like you?” The last word was barely audible.

“We don’t know that yet,” Cheyenne added hopefully. “Do we?”

Reluctantly, Dakotah shook his head. “No, but the signs are all there.”

“Can’t you,” she shrugged her shoulders at a loss for a good term, “tell?”

He looked her over and noted her shinier hair, her brighter eyes, the glow to her skin and growled in his throat. But, there was still a lot of her, the human her there as well. “I can try.” Leaning in close, he took a deep breath, in through his nose and held it, briefly, before exhaling. “You still smell human, but there’s one other…”

She screamed again as he moved quicker than she could process and embedded his fangs deep in her neck. One small swallow and he stood back, wiping his mouth. “Am I okay?” Sierra wasn’t sure what had scared her more, the thought of becoming vamp or his sudden lack of respect for her humanness.

He slowly licked the remaining blood off his lips, slowly, thoughtfully. Almost like he was savoring the taste. “You taste… different, but still human. What has happened here?”

Dr. Anders looked nervous before clearing his throat. “I have no way of knowing for sure, but my guess is that she temporarily has some of your abilities. Like an energy drink will give you a temporary boost of power. I would think it should fade in time, but I have no way of knowing how this will affect her in the long run. May I draw some blood to run some tests with?”

Sierra nodded, and smiled weakly. “Only if you bring my baby to me. I can’t believe I’m still without him!”

The doctor looked horrified for a moment. “Of course, right away.”

Cheyenne stopped him before he could run out after the nurse. “Do what you have to do. I’ll get the baby so that we can get them all out of here ASAP.”

He nodded and turned back to Sierra while Cheyenne went in search of the infant. Returning almost instantly, she cradled her new nephew in her arms. Bringing him to her sister’s side, she grinned. “See? He’s perfect. Nurse says he’s adorable and healthy in every way.”

She reached for her child and held him to her chest. His tiny fists were pressed against his pale cheeks, framing two pink lips. A thatch of dark auburn hair topped his head. “What color are his eyes? He’s snoozing much too soundly for me to see.” She stroked his little arm and sighed, happy to finally have him here.

“I think they were blue,” Chey told her, grinning even more broadly. “But we’ll see soon enough, I’m sure.”

Dakotah reached out and touched his son. “I’m sure we will. Let me hold him so you can get ready.”

“Am I able?” She looked to the doctor for his confirming nod.

“Yes, just be careful. And be aware that this is not a normal child. He will require blood as well as his mother’s milk.”

“And how will I get that?” Sierra asked, concerned.

“I will procure it for him, do not worry.”

She looked at her husband as if he’d lost his mind. “How can I not worry?”

He smiled a gentle smile. “We have no idea how much he will need, but even now, I do not need much. We will figure it out and we will make it work.”

She couldn’t argue with that, not really. “Okay then. I’m ready. Are you?” Dakotah and Cheyenne both nodded. “Good. Do we have a blanket for Austen then?”

The doctor blinked for a moment until he realized she was referring to the baby. The blanket he’d been wrapped in was covered in blood and needed changing. “Yes, yes, I do and I think I even have a diaper to send him home in.”

Dakotah shook his head. “Forgot the diaper bag. Bad Mommy.”

“Hey,” Cheyenne threatened. “You be nice to her! She’s had a hard day!”

The vampire looked at his sister-in-law and laughed his first real laugh in weeks. “Oh, so she’s had a hard day, then? And I have not? Almost lost my wife and left with no idea how to raise a child on my own?”

“Oh, okay,” Cheyenne said exasperated, “you have a point.” And then something clicked. “So you decided on Austen after all?”

Sierra nodded. “Yes, I thought it had a nice sound to it – Austen James.”

She nodded in agreement. “I like it, now, let’s go home.”

“That is the best suggestion I have heard in awhile,” Dakotah agreed, wrapping his son in the new, clean blanket, and handing him to his sister-in-law. Lifting the now-dressed Sierra from the table, he nodded in the direction of the doctor. “Inform me as soon as you know something.”

“I promise.” He knew better than to lie to a vampire.

“Good.” Following Cheyenne, he carried his wife out into the lobby and into the desert night.