Flower of the Day – Red Rose Bouquet

Flower of the Day – Red Rose Bouquet

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For Cee’s Flower of the Day:

https://ceenphotography.com/2022/01/30/fotd-january-31-hydrangea/

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Thanks for visiting! Peace ☮️

© 2022 BS

Two Souls: Into the Fire # 260

Two Souls: Into the Fire # 260

Warning … adult content

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The little town of Ozark was quaint. Large trees, expanses of green lawns, and two-story houses with screened front porches, lined the main street. Ahead, Steve and Ghost could see the small town square. There was a grocery store, a laundry, a diner, a five and dime, and right in the middle was a statue, which was possibly the founder of the town.

Steve drove slowly through, waiting for Ghost to give him directions. Ghost was staring out the window. “Keep going, it’s past this part,” he said. After a couple more blocks, he said, “Okay, turn right at the next corner.” Then, as they turned, they could see a crowd of people on the front lawn of a large Victorian house. It was a yard sale.

Steve found a place to park on the side of the road, and they walked over to look around. Linda and the kids followed their lead. Stevie and Mandy headed for some toys they’d spied.

“Is this the right place?” Linda asked.

Nodding, Ghost said, “Yeah, it’s here somewhere. I feel it.”

“I’m going to look around, then,” Linda said. She followed the kids.

“Go find whatever it is, Ghost. Do your hocus-pocus, then let’s go,” Steve said, as he scanned the area.

They walked over to a table full of items. Ghost ran his hands above the things there, not touching any. “Not on here,” he said, and moved on over to the next table. Just as he got to it, he was shoved hard from behind, and almost fell down.

“Hey, stop pushing me, Steve,” he said, looking back. Steve wasn’t there; he’d gone over to look at some t-shirts hanging on a rack. Ghost frowned, and started his hand routine, again. He was pushed from the side, now, and he stumbled sideways, into a bearded man. “Sorry,” he said to him.

“Watch where you’re going,” the man said.

Ghost was realizing that something didn’t want him at this table. Standing there, he just looked at the items on the table, trying to get a sense of what was calling to him, and what was pushing him. Everything looked pretty ordinary. There was the usual yard sale jumble of things, in no kind of organization. The impression he got was that this was the selling off of a recently deceased family member’s possessions. Maybe the family needed the money, and were selling the house, property, and contents, to break even on taxes owed, and funeral expenses, and were moving away.

Ghost felt sadness coming from the porch area. People were going in and out of the house, while the old screen door creaked open and shut. There was a middle aged man and woman sitting at a table near-by. He thought they must be the sellers. They didn’t look in the least familiar to him, though. Why would something of his be here? And, what was it?

He tried again, to hover his hand above the items on this table, saying, “Not this…nothing…maybe this?…couldn’t be that…” He didn’t feel anything over the old purse, or the scarf and hat, or the display of ceramic knick-knacks. Neither did the lace handkerchiefs, nor the dresser set of mirror, brush, and comb give him a clue. It didn’t make sense…and he’d not been pushed again.

As he moved down the side of the table, though, he began to feel hot. Prickles of sweat broke out on his scalp, and he could feel it start running down into his face and eyes, stinging a bit.  He wiped it away, noticing no one else seemed to be bothered by the heat.

He moved back a little bit, the way he’d come from, and he felt shivery. One step forward, hot…one step back, cold. Okay, he thought, a game. The hot and cold game. You get close to the item, you get hot, then you get farther away from it, you get cold. So, he stood in the middle area, and was neither too hot, or too cold. On the table right in front of him, was a shoe box, containing quite a few pieces of costume jewelry.

He was going to paw through it, but as he touched the box, he felt a quick, tingly jolt in his hand, which made him jerk it back. A few other people felt around in the box, pulling out pieces to examine. They had no problem.

Ghost sighed, and prepared himself for a jolt, then plunged his hand into the box. He gritted his teeth at the sharp pain in his fingers, but didn’t stop. When he pulled his hand out, he was holding a necklace…a gold chain, with a heart-shaped locket on the end. There was a small price sticker on the back of the heart…$5.00 it said. His hand were shaking, as he opened the locket.

What he saw inside made his heart lurch, and he couldn’t breathe for a second. It was a small picture of himself.

“Steve…Steve…” Ghost yelled. “I found it.” He was holding the necklace up in the air…the heart swinging back and forth.

The other shoppers stopped to look, surprised at the outburst. Steve felt a weird panic rising up inside him, as he tried to run toward Ghost. Why, he had no idea, but the way Ghost had yelled, had sent goosebumps down his spine.

“What is it? Show me,” he panted, as he reached Ghost.

“This, this is it, Steve, look.” he handed the necklace to Steve. Taking it, Steve shuddered, as a quick chill ran up his arms. This was definitely a picture of Ghost.

“How…how is this possible?” Steve asked. He looked wildly around, looking for an answer from somewhere. “This is you. How did a picture of you get in here, in Arkansas? We’ve never been here, before.”

“I don’t know,” Ghost said. “I just felt it calling to me.”

“Have you ever seen it before, at home? Maybe it was your grandmother’s?”

“I don’t remember ever seeing it, and look, this picture isn’t very long ago. It’s kind of how I look now,” Ghost said, as he looked closely at the small picture. “Did you take it? I didn’t have a camera for very long.”

Steve shook his head, thinking. “I think I get it now. Someone took a picture at one of our shows at the Yew…maybe one of the college kids, and they were from here.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s gotta be it, Steve,” Ghost said, smiling. “I thought it was some weird happening,” he said, trying to spook Steve.

“Don’t,” Steve yelped, as Ghost goosed him. “There’s still the part where you heard it calling to you.”

“Oh, yeah, that part. I wonder why…and there’s still the other part, in the other town. It has something calling to me, too. And, why did it push me?”

By then, Linda had come to hear the last part of the conversation. “Well, why don’t y’all just go ask the people?” she said. “They’re right over there by the porch.” They all looked over that way. “Well, go on…” she said, giving them both a push. She watched, as they slowly made their way over to the owners.

“Ya think? No, that’s not right,” Ghost said.

“What?”

“I’m just gonna buy it, ok? It’s not really mine, yet. Ya got any money?” he asked Steve.

“Here,” Steve said, handing Ghost the money to buy the necklace.

Ghost approached the man and woman, who were still sitting at the small table. “I want to buy this,” he said, handing the money to them. The woman glanced up, and caught her breath.

“It’s you…in the picture,” she said.

“Uh, yeah, it’s me here, and in this picture,” Ghost started. Steve knew he’d better cut it short, or Ghost would go on and on about it.

“We just want to know how it got here,” he said, hoping the next question wouldn’t be how they knew to come here.

“Oh, it’s the property owners. She said I could sell it, but I had no idea you’d be the one to come buy it. Such a strange co-incident,” the woman said.

“Yes, it is,” Steve said. “We think we figured out part of it,” he explained. The woman agreed that that was probably what happened.

“But why, and how did you know to come all the way here?” she asked.

Ghost began telling her how, he knew to come here. “We were driving on the road, and I had a weird dream, that I had to come and find something here. And here we are.” The woman was even more confused.

“We have to go now,” Steve said, edging away, and pulling on Ghost’s shirt. “Nice meeting you…nice yard sale…thanks.”

“Thank you,” the woman said.

Steve led Ghost over to a little less crowded area. “You don’t have to go explaining how you know stuff, Ghost,” he said.

“But, maybe if I tell her, she’d tell us stuff, too…like why it was pulling me here, then pushing me, and…wait…it wasn’t pushing me away, it was pushing me to the right place,” Ghost said. Then he frowned. “But, why? What’s so special about this necklace?” He kept staring at it.

Steve shrugged, “I don’t know, but you should quit worrying about it. Where’s that next place? Maybe there’s a piece of the puzzle over there.” He looked around. “We need to go, and where’s Linda?” Scanning across the crowd of people, he saw her. “There she is, let’s go.”

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Next part coming soon!

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Thanks for visiting! Peace ☮️

© 2019 BS

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This is a work of “fan fiction” based on the novel, “Lost Souls” by Poppy Z. Brite. All credit for the original characters, places, and some backstory mentions, belong to Ms. Brite and her publishing affiliates. Only newly introduced characters, places, and original elements of this story are entirely from my imagination. Character descriptions are a blend of the original book descriptions and my interpretation of them.

All songs included in this work will be solely owned by the original performers/writers and will be credited. Creative license is taken in including them in this story.

No harm is intended toward author, musicians, or people and situations to whom there may be a resemblance.

warning      warning      warning      warning

The content herein is rated by me as being at the high end of MA (Mature Audience). It includes strong language, violence, sexual themes, including same sex pairings, religious themes, and fantasy horror.

Stand By Me – Song Lyric Sunday – Movie Songs

Stand By Me – Song Lyric Sunday – Movie Songs

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This week the theme is songs that are a feature of a movie.

Thanks to Jim Adams for hosting this musical challenge each week.

To join in today’s challenge, and also see other entries just click this link below:

https://jimadamsauthordotcom.wordpress.com/2022/01/29/lights-camera-music/

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Here’s a really good song that I’ve liked for a long time. It was featured in the movie “Stand By Me”, which is a favorite of mine, and I’ve seen it many times. To me, I love the music and words to this song very much, because it seems to be saying if you have a true friend that you’ll both be there for each other no matter what, through thick and thin, the good and bad times.

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From a Wiki article:

King’s record went to number 1 on the R&B charts^[11] and was a Top Ten hit on the US charts twice—in its original release, entering the Billboard chart on May 13, 1961^[12] and peaking at number 4 on June 16, 1961, and a 1986 re-release coinciding with its use as the theme song for the film of the same name following its appearance in the film, when it peaked at number 9 on December 20, 1986 – January 3, 1987. The song is also heard in the televised advertisement of Levi’s 501 jeans. In the commercial, a man wearing a black denim jeans is able to enter a nightclub whose policy is “no blue jeans”.^[13] The song also reached number one on the UK Singles Chart in 1987 after its re-release, mostly because of the jeans commercial, originally reaching number 27 on its first UK release.

The song was not released on an album until it had been out as a single for two years. The song appeared on King’s Don’t Play That Song! album.

The song was ranked 122nd on Rolling Stone‘s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 1999, BMI named it as the fourth most-performed song of the 20th century, with about seven million performances.^[14]

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“Stand By Me”, by Ben E. King, was first released in 1961, then later re-released in 1986 as it was featured in the movie by the same name. It was written by Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber, and Mike Stoller.

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When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we’ll see
No, I won’t be afraid, no, I won’t be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

So darlin’, darlin’, stand by me, oh, stand by me
Oh, stand, stand by me, stand by me

If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
Or the mountains should crumble to the sea
I won’t cry, I won’t cry, no, I won’t shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

And darlin’, darlin’, stand by me, oh, stand by me
Whoa, stand now, stand by me, stand by me

Darlin’, darlin’, stand by me, oh, stand by me
Oh, stand now, stand by me, stand by me

Whenever you’re in trouble, won’t you stand by me? Oh, stand by me
Oh, stand now…

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Thanks for visiting! Peace ☮️

© 2022 BS

 

Flower of the Day – Gladiolus

Flower of the Day – Gladiolus

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These are called Gladiolus, and are large white flowers on long stems.

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For Cee’s Flower of the Day:

https://ceenphotography.com/2022/01/29/fotd-january-30-dahlia/

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Thanks for visiting! Peace ☮️

© 2022 BS

Flower of the Day – Holiday Mix

Flower of the Day – Holiday Mix

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A white carnation, red berries, a pine cone, and some pine tree sprigs make up a nice holiday decoration.

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For Cee’s Flower of the Day:

https://ceenphotography.com/2022/01/28/fotd-january-29-dahlia/

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Thanks for visiting! Peace ☮️

© 2022 BS

Two Souls: Into the Fire # 259

Two Souls: Into the Fire # 259

Warning … adult content

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Ghost tried to sit up, now, as the cool water had revived him from passing out.

“Take it slow dude,” Steve said. He helped him sit up in the front seat of the U-Haul. “How ya feeling?” He did see that the redness was about gone from Ghost’s cheeks.

“Okay, I think…what happened?” Ghost asked.

“Honey,” Linda said, “you passed out, maybe from the heat. We put cool water on you, thinking you’d had a heat stroke or something.”

“Yeah, scared the shit outta me,” Steve said. “One minute you were sleeping, the next, you were burning up and choking.” He felt Ghost’s face. “Well, you’re cool now.”

“Why was it so hot in here, Steve?” asked Linda. “I mean, it’s hot outside, but not…well, you were fine, and we were fine in the van. I didn’t have the air-conditioner on, either.”

Steve shrugged. “Beats me. I’d have noticed if it was too hot. I was just gonna turn it on though.”

“It wasn’t just the heat,” Ghost said. “I was attacked.”

“What?…Attacked?” Steve and Linda asked.

Ghost frowned, thinking. “When I was asleep, I saw something bad. It was dark and spinning all around me, and was sucking the breath out of me. Did you see it in here, Steve?”

“Hell, I didn’t see anything, just the road and then you choking, and turning red. Then I pulled over, and you’d fainted,” Steve said. “That’s creepy, Ghost…some evil thing was in here with us?”

“Well, it was real to me, and it was trying to kill me. Maybe the dream me…not me in here, but then it was both of us. I’m confused still…what was it?” Ghost asked.

“You’re the one that dreamed it up…you tell me,” Steve said.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better, Ghost,” Linda said. “I have to get back to the van and the kids. I can’t leave them alone over there for long. Let me know when you want to get going again.”

“Why’d you say that…being attacked…by what?” Steve asked.

“By the dark tornado thing,” Ghost said. “It said something, too. It sounded like ‘what’s yours is now mine. Leave it be.” He shivered.

“Is it gone, now?”

“Yeah, for now, but it’ll be back the closer we get. I think it don’t want me to find it…the thing we’re looking for.”

“Then let’s just forget it then, like it said…leave it be,” Steve said.

“NO…I have to get it.”

Steve sighed. “Okay, then, if you want to get attacked again, let’s go find it.” He signaled to Linda, and they got back on the highway, heading for the state line.

They rode in silence for a few miles, without the radio music, and neither of them spoke. Ghost had leaned back, closing his eyes. Steve could tell he was concentrating on something, because he kept mumbling words in a barely audible whisper.

“What are you doing, Ghost?” Steve finally asked.

“Mapping…or GPS-ing, or whatever you call it.”

“Oh, like in your head?” Steve asked. “You have a GPS in your head?” He was trying hard not to laugh.

“No, not a real one, just…I’m looking ahead of us, so I can see where we need to go,” Ghost said.

“Umm, you gonna tell me where to go?” Steve asked.

Ghost snickered.

“God…not like that…you know what I mean,” Steve said, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, I’ll tell ya,” Ghost said. “There’s a road that goes to the town Ozark. Well, it’s marked on the highway sign. Take it, then I’ll say which way to go from there.”

They soon came upon the first sign that mentioned Ozark. “There’s a sign, and it says twenty miles. You got any clue of where, or what it is yet?”

“Maybe. I keep seeing an old house, Victorian with a big old porch, and a bunch of things in the yard, with people looking around.”

“That sounds like a yard sale to me,” Steve said. “Ya think so?”

“Hey, that’s it. Oh, now I’m getting excited, Steve. I love yard sales.”

“Good, because here’s the turn off road,” Steve said, as he took the side road off the highway. “Got your radar on?”

“Huh?”

“Your GPS thing in your head…which way do we go?” Steve asked, as he pulled up to a stop sign.

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Next part coming soon!

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Thanks for visiting! Peace ☮️

© 2019 BS

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This is a work of “fan fiction” based on the novel, “Lost Souls” by Poppy Z. Brite. All credit for the original characters, places, and some backstory mentions, belong to Ms. Brite and her publishing affiliates. Only newly introduced characters, places, and original elements of this story are entirely from my imagination. Character descriptions are a blend of the original book descriptions and my interpretation of them.

All songs included in this work will be solely owned by the original performers/writers and will be credited. Creative license is taken in including them in this story.

No harm is intended toward author, musicians, or people and situations to whom there may be a resemblance.

warning      warning      warning      warning

The content herein is rated by me as being at the high end of MA (Mature Audience). It includes strong language, violence, sexual themes, including same sex pairings, religious themes, and fantasy horror.

Throwback Thursday – Chores

Throwback Thursday – Chores

https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/87279163/posts/3795565859

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This week Maggie poses some questions about chores and allowances when we were a kid, and even later on. Thanks, Maggie! 🙂

Here are a few things to remember back on:

Did you have chores you were responsible for? At what age did that begin?

Were you required to make your bed and keep your room tidy? Did you have the responsibility for those chores for siblings or others in the house? Were chores evenly distributed?

Were you asked to take out the trash, mow the lawn, or do the dishes? How about cooking?

Were you given an allowance? If so, at what age and how much?

Were there repercussions if you did not do your chores?

How did you establish chores once you had a home of your own?

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I don’t know what age I was able to do any chores, but I do remember getting to wash the dishes. I really liked doing that. I still like doing that – by hand. We’ve had a dishwasher before, but not in quite a few years, and we didn’t have one when I was growing up. I would even volunteer to do dishes at my grandma’s and granny’s house if we’d had a meal over there. It’s fun to do someone else’s dishes because they were different from ours.

My sister and I would help with the kitchen floor. Not a totally every time deal, but quite often. The floor was linoleum, and mom wanted it waxed. The Johnson’s paste wax smelled good. We’d get rags and smear it all over the floor, then other rags and buff it off. Later on we had an electric waxing/buffing machine to use. That was fun, too.  Now however, I hate doing floors of any kind.

My sister and I never got an allowance as such. We were lucky to have plenty of what we needed, and would get treats from time to time. We did get a dollar for every A on our report cards though.

Early on my cousin and I would make crafty things to sell. We’d go to grandma’s and all the neighbors with our stuff and they’d buy from us. We’d make braided yarn with little pouches for cinnamon spice and cinnamon sticks tied on with ribbon. We’d also make soap decorated with ribbon and little artificial flowers to hang in the bathroom. We did quite well with both of these. I think we charged 75 cents for both of these.

A little later on I would take in ironing to do for others. I loved to iron! I had quite a few customers who’d bring their clothes to me by the dozen. I was still in elementary school when I did this. I also continued to do this for many years, up until only a few years ago here.

I think we probably did whatever we wanted to with our own bedrooms. We didn’t get nagged much to keep it tidy. But later on as a teen I kept it fairly neat.

We basically kept on this same way when our girls were growing up.

That’s about all I can think on it for now. 🙂

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Thanks for visiting! Peace

© 2022 BS

Fibbing Friday

Fibbing Friday

This weekly challenge presents some questions that we are to give wrong answer to. It’s all in fun.

To join in this weekly challenge, and see other entries, just click the link below:

https://pcguyiv.wordpress.com/2022/01/28/fibbing-friday-january-28th-2021/

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1. What is Lizzie Borden known for?  … She owned a dairy farm and the famous Borden’s Elsie the Cow,
3. What did the man known as D.B. Cooper do?  … He was known for his entertaining singing telegrams.
5. What was the Enron scandal about? … It was a huge debate on whether EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) was really pure and a virgin. It ended in a tie and could never be proven.
7. What was Dante’s work, The Divine Comedy about? … A masquerade ball and all the funny costumes.
9. What does Macbeth do to become king? … He treated the whole court to McDonald’s burgers & fries.
11. Why is Capt. Ahab obsessed with finding Moby Dick? … Because he wanted to invite Moby to come live at a Sea World Adventure Park.
13. In Mary Poppins, what is Mr. Banks’ profession?  .. I think I heard he was an antiques dealer.
15. According to Mr. Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? … 400?
17. According to folklore, what does a chupacabra eat? … Chupa Chups lollipops of course!
19. Where do Yeti supposedly live? … At Wal-Mart. You can buy the coolers there.

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Thanks for visiting! Peace ☮️

© 2022 BS

Flower of the Day – Big White Bells

Flower of The Day – Big White Bells

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These are called Angel Trumpet, and they do come in different colors. A very dramatic flower, but very poisonous as they are a member of the nightshades, so do not eat, and handle with care – wash your hands after touching them.

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For Cee’s Flower of the Day:

https://ceenphotography.com/2022/01/27/fotd-january-28-dahlia/

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Thanks for visiting! Peace ☮️

© 2022 BS

Flower of the Day – Grape Hyacinth

Flower of the Day – Grape Hyacinth

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I think these are Grape Hyacinth. They are small purple petals going up a tall stalk. Some are rounded and some look more elongated. There’s lots of tall spiky leaves, too.

 

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For Cee’s Flower of the Day:

https://ceenphotography.com/2022/01/26/fotd-january-26-clematis/

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Thanks for visiting! Peace ☮️

© 2022 BS