The Adventures of Pete

There was very little light in the closet, which made it difficult to see just how large the space, was, but it looked to be a hallway of sorts with a very low ceiling. It extended in the direction of the kitchen but he could not see for sure if it was anything more than an attic space. Feeling rather excited about what he had found he ran across the hall to his sister's room to tell her what he had found. "Becky!" he exclaimed, "There is something you have to see in my closet. Find your flashlight and lets see where it leads." Becky, who putting the final touches on her stuffed animal arrangement, was startled by Robert's explosive entrance. She looked skeptical, as Robert tended to be dramatic about these things. Once, at their old house, he had found a something in the basement and had given her similar instructions. When they returned to the spot she realized to her horror that it was a massive rat snake, almost six feet long. She screamed so loud that even the snake didn't know what to do. Her father arrived moments later with a bag and stick to corral the snake and remove it from the basement.

Deciding that there could not possibly be a snake in his closet on the second floor of a farmhouse, Becky dug into her desk drawer for her trusty Maglite Flashlight. It had been a Christmas present she received from her grandfather several years ago, a present she was not overly thrilled about at the time. It turned out to be one of her most prized possessions. It had a long blue shaft made of airplane aluminum, thick enough that a semi truck could run over it and not break it (or so the advertisement had claimed). The beam of light it cast could be adjusted to be a narrow and powerful beam or a wide bright light, which made it perfect for flashlight tag and worm hunting in the summer.

She stepped over the pile of packing boxes that had accumulated between their rooms and into Robert's room. Becky frowned at the mess Robert had made in his new room. She had carefully folded all of her clothes and placed them neatly in her chest of drawers, meticulously organizing each drawer. The top drawer was for socks and undies, next was short sleeve shirts, then long sleeve shirts, then shorts and skirts, and lastly pants. Each drawer was then organized by color. Whites were on the left, followed by gray, pink, yellow, orange, red, green, blue, purple, and black. Robert had hastily stuffed his clothes wherever they would fit. Shirtsleeves and socks were sticking out of the drawers and only one of his drawers would even close all the way. The only things he had carefully put away where his insect jars, his dress shirt and pants, his button collection, and his telescope.

"What could possibly be so interesting that you would take me away from unpacking? I was almost finished."
"I found a trap door in the back of my closet! Did you bring your flashlight?"
"A trap door?! What's inside?"
"I don't know, that's why I asked you to bring your flashlight. You brought it right?"
She turned on the light and pointed it in his face. "Lets go!"

Ted unlocked the back door and the children burst through. “Where are our rooms? Where are our rooms?” shouted Becky and Robert.
“Up the stairs and to the right,” replied Amy.
The children scurried down the hall and up the stairs. They located their rooms with out any difficulty and quickly tore open the wrapping paper on their presents.
“Whoa!” exclaimed Becky, “A real tent! And a new pair of hiking boots!” Through the wall Becky could hear Robert tearing open his presents.
“A microscope and a real chemistry set, awesome! Becky, what did you get?”
The children marveled over their new things and then raced back down stairs to hug their parents.
“There are more presents waiting for you, but you will have to help us get everything inside before you can open them,” said Ted.
“Lets go help the movers unload the truck. It should take no time at all if we all work together,” said Amy.
The children did their best to help, carrying boxes, lamps and other small things into the house. They helped their parents and the movers with the big stuff by holding open doors and making sure the furniture was put the right rooms. Two hours later the truck was empty and the moving truck bounced down the driveway and back to town.
More after the jump

This is the story of two children, Becky and Robert, who lived on a very peculiar farm. Their farm was not your normal Michigan farm. It had many secrets and was filled with many adventures not found in farms such as theirs. They lived on the farm with their mother, Amy, and their father, Ted. Amy and Ted were good parents, who raised their children to be good children. They had bought the farm from Amelia Ness, the last living relative of the farm's original owner, Alfred Crisp.

Alfred had built the house, the barn, the chicken house, the workshop, and the garage with the help of his father and brothers. They made a small clearing in the dense forest surrounding the farm to raise cows, horses, and chickens. Near the clearing was a small spring fed brook the fed into the lake less than a mile east of the farm. It was a good farm, built by good people.

They did their best to maintain the farm, but over the years it became harder and harder for the family to make their living on the farm. One by one the sons and grandsons, daughters and grand daughters moved away until at last, the farm had to be sold. Ted and Amy had always admired the family and their farm and when news came that it was going to be sold they did not hesitate to sell their house and buy the farm.
More after the jump

Hi Readers (all three of you),

I wanted to apologize for my lack of writing this weekend. There is no excuse for my actions and I take full responsibility for the consequences. I let my weekend plans get in the way of my goals for this blog. In theory, blogging every day is possible, but it requires setting aside a specific amount of time for said blogging. That specific amount of time slipped away from me very quickly this weekend and for that I am very sorry readers.

Thankfully it seems that my opponent in this blog challenge took the weekend off as well so my lapse has had no ill effects other than the fact that I let you down readers. Tune in later today for the continuation of the chapter on the roommate.

Sincerely,

Pete

I thought it would be a good idea to call the school after this slight hiccup to figure out what my living situation would be like in the fall. My hope was that because room assignments had all been made I would be getting a room all to myself. Wishful thinking, I know, but a man can dream can't he?

The call was confusing to say the least. The secretary was able to pull up the room information and told me that I would have a roommate but she didn't know who it was or when I would be able to know. I asked how I was supposed to know what my roommate has and doesn't have but she was no help at all. My first real experience with the school and they're already screwing me over.

The summer continued on as it had before I got my room assignment and I managed to make a surprising amount of money. Nearly enough that I wouldn't have to work again until next summer. I'd probably try to get a part time job on campus just so I could have some "pop" and "candybar" money.

Then, about three weeks before orientation my mom told me something I'll never forget. I had just gotten home from a particularly long day at the grease pit. I had picked up an extra shift that day so I worked the lunch and dinner rush, if you could call it that. Considering the quality of the food and the clientele it was more like a rush to eat and then a rush to the can. I came home reeking of onions and mayonnaise and just needed a shower. My mom had left a note for me to say that my new roommate's mom called to see what I had for the dorm room. Let me repeat the important part - my new roommate's MOM called. All I could think was, "great, I've got a momma's boy for a roommate." Worst part about it was that my mom chatted with his mom, so now this kid thinks I'm just like him. It was too late to call back and get this guy on the phone so I made a mental note to call this guy first thing in the morning.

Scene 1 - Father and Son are playing on the floor in the living room. A fire crackles and pops in the corner. The t.v. is tuned to a loud, obnoxious cartoon that the boy likes.

Father smiles at his son as he rolls around on the floor, completely oblivious to the world around him. He is playing with his pacifier and his feet, making cooing noises and staring intently at his father.

Father: Hey cutie, whatcha doin? Have you got your toes?

Son: (babbling and still playing with this feet)

Father: You just give daddy the biggest smiles don't you? (he copies the sounds his son makes, which are then copied by his son).

The back and forth between father and son continue for several minutes. They both are laying on the floor making silly noises and playing with various toys. A rattle, a stuffed owl, and a pacifier.

From the other room a cell phone set to vibrate is buzzing on the table. Buzz-buzz-buzz. Buzz-buzz-buzz. The father jumps up to see who it is.

Father: Well what do you know, it is your mother. Let's see what she has to say. (opening the phone) Hey babe, what's up?

Mother: Just checking in with my boys. We're still in the car, about an hour away from the cottage but service gets a little spotty up there so I wanted to call and make sure everything was going alright.

Father: Oh yeah, we're having a good old time. We've just been playing on the floor. We'll probably... (pauses and looks at the boy) Whoops he just spit up. (to his son) Let me clean that up real quick. Where is your diaper rag? Oh, there it is. (cleans the spit off of the boy's chin) There, that's better.

Mother: Sounds like you two are doing just fine. I'll let you go, the girls are pulling off for a rest stop break. I'll call you when i can. Love you guys!

Father: Love you too hun, have a good time up there.

(The father hangs up the phone and sets it on the couch near where the boy is playing)

Father: Your mom says that she loves you buddy. But I'm sure you knew that. Why don't we get dinner ready. How does some mushed peas and carrots sound? Or maybe some sweet potatoes?

(He opens the refrigerator to see what his wife made him)

Father: Looks like daddy's having leftover meatloaf from the other night. Maybe a night in the fridge will have softened it up. your mom isn't the best cook. but you won't have to deal with that for at least another year. (grabs an open bottle of baby food) Looks like you'll be having Gerber's finest pureed carrots. Yummy yum.

(in the living room you can hear the vibration from a cell phone, but the father doesn't hear it)

The is a good chance that I'll be blogging on the go now which could really help me win this challenge thing. Only major problem is that typing on a touch screen is tedious. We'll just have to see when the opportunity presents itself. I'll be posting the opening scene from a play I've been working on later tonight. Be sure to tune in cause it is a page turner.

I always assumed that writing a novel would be a piece of cake. You sit down with an idea of a story in your head and just start writing. The problem I always have is how to start the story. An opening line is the first thing anyone reads and is arguably the most important line in the entire story. All through high school we were taught to use the opening line or opening paragraph of a paper or story to hook the reader. We would practice writing just hooks for papers we would probably never finish. In college it wasn't necessarily taught but professors did expect us to rope the reader in at some point in the first page or so. I suppose this is true of any story, written or spoken. You want to engage your audience as quickly as possible to ensure that you have their undivided attention. After that you can say pretty much whatever you want and they will listen.
More after the jump

In late June I received a letter from the school that gave my dorm assignment and roommate contact information.  Sam Davis was to be my partner in crime for the next nine months.  We were going to be living in room 296, Richmond Hall.  As I had learned in my college prep books, it is important to call your roommate and get to know each other.  Find out what kind of guy you'll be sharing your room with while you both experience true independence for the first time in your lives.  They also say you should figure out who's going to bring the t.v., mini fridge, and microwave.  I wasted no time calling because I didn't have any of that stuff yet.  All I had was a crappy old computer and a lot of stereo equipment.  I tried calling a couple times and finally left a message.  The guy had his cell phone listed as his primary number so I figured he probably had all the stuff we needed.  I didn't even have a phone in my room, let alone my own cell phone.  I got a call back a couple days later.

More after the jump

This is a rap artist from Ethiopia.  He's got a great alternative sound to the popular rap that exists today.

In case anyone is wondering, this post doesn't count toward the challenge.