tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90603429296406915892023-06-20T06:05:11.064-07:00AVSongbird short storiesAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-49244303675179354892015-08-24T16:17:00.000-07:002015-08-24T16:17:08.982-07:00All the Ages (a love story)- by avsongbird as read aloud on my youtube channel<a href="http://youtu.be/nfNxbsFptgY">All the Ages- a love story by avsongbird</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-31384767897989828442015-08-23T17:51:00.000-07:002015-08-23T17:51:51.241-07:00All the Ages- (a love story)- by avsongbird<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He
couldn’t remember much of his childhood, but then, when you’ve lived for as
long as he had, he reasoned that such things couldn’t be helped. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He still
remembered flashes of his youth—sunlit summer afternoons beneath the trees, the
smell of the sun-warmed grass and the sound of the wind whispering through the
grass. He still remembered the sound of the warm spring rains he’d been caught
in, in his youth. He still remembered the smell of the freshly-cut hay, and the
way it itched in his clothes as he drove the pitchfork into it, and tossed it. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He
remembered the warmth and the love in her smile, and the vision of her lying
beside him, with hay in her hair and love in her eyes as they held his own. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
More
than anything else in his life, he remembered the love he always saw in her
unforgettable eyes. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He
didn’t know there was anything special about him, not then. No, back then he
was just a boy, young, stubborn, perhaps a little arrogant, but young. So very,
very young.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And he
remembered being hopelessly in love with that young girl with love in her eyes
and hay in her hair.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As
they’d grown older, and the years passed, he began to feel it, though he didn’t
realize what it was he was feeling at the time. On the outside, there was
nothing peculiar about him—no sign that set him apart from anyone else.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But he
felt it. Though he kept it quietly to himself, quietly wondering whether he was
going crazy, or letting his imagination get the better of him. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Her hair
grew longer as they grew older together, passing their lives together, and with
each passing day he loved her even more than he had the day before. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And
then, one day, she was gone, and he found himself alone in the world once
again. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And now
that he’d known what life was with her in it, he felt his aloneness much more
keenly now that she was gone. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The rain
was never the same as it fell on him, leaving him with bittersweet memories of
all the times they’d danced and laughed in the rain, and all the kisses they’d
shared beneath it. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As the
years passed, he wondered what he’d done to deserve this—to be left to wander
the world in the wake of everything they’d shared—to continue on in such a way,
knowing he’d never see her again. That he’d never touch her again, never hold her
or hear her musical laughter. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To know
that he’d never again see her beautiful face light up with her smile, or see
the love in her eyes as they held his own. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However
hard he tried as the years passed, he couldn’t bring himself to understand why
he continued to live on without her, or why he seemed to be destined to outlive
anyone and everyone he ever knew. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As the
world around him began to change, at first he was blind to it—too caught up in
his grief to notice it. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
His
bones began to ache as he got older, and as the years passed, the cold and the
damp began to sink in when winter came, reminding him of just how many winters
he’d known. And every year, he looked forward to the spring more and more.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But not
the summers. Oh no. Summertime always reminded him of her. When the air grew
hot and wavered in the heat, he would always remember the summers they passed
together when they were young. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Try as
he might, though he couldn’t look forward to them anymore, he could never quite
bring himself to hate the summers. Not when they were so vibrant with her
memory. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He lived
out his life in a solitary way, becoming mostly a recluse because it was easier
for him to be alone than to become close with people only to lose them as the
years passed, leaving him largely unchanged. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He felt
it as the years passed, though at first, he didn’t realize what it was he was
feeling. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He was
waiting for something, though he didn’t know it. Not then. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Passing
the years, and waiting. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And
hoping that he wouldn’t have to wait for a time when time ceased to exist.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
**********</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The day
came, ages later, when from across the world, she was born. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He felt
the first beat of her heart as though it were his own. He felt the first breath
she took as though it were his first breath. And as she opened her eyes for the
first time, he closed his own eyes, thanking the heavens that the time had
finally come, that they would walk the earth together as they once had, so very
long ago. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ages had
come and ages had gone, and in all those centuries, he had awaited her return.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
**********</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As she
grew older, he felt it in his heart from the other side of the world, feeling
her every dream, her every happiness, every rage and every heartbreak. He felt
her strength grow with each passing day, even as he felt her deepening
loneliness, the very loneliness she’d known so many ages before when she’d
first come to him—a lovely, lonely young woman on his doorstep in the rain, her
eyes longing for someone to know her, to love her and to accept her for who and
what she was, and to never let her be lonely again. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To never
leave her alone again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As he
felt her draw near to her 30<sup>th</sup> year, he began to make preparations
to go to her, and to make himself known to her at long last. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It would
not be an easy journey. In all his years, he had seen many miraculous things
come to pass, and yet he had never been able to become used to travel by air,
preferring still to travel by ship, or when possible, by train or car.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cars, at
least, reminded him of carriages, of buggies. These things were far from new to
him. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Feeling
her heart, her soul reaching out to him from across the great expanse of
distance that now stood between them, he began the long journey that would
bring him to her door. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Finally,
he found himself standing on her doorstep, and lifting his arm with effort, he
knocked, his head hanging as he waited for her to answer the door, his aged
body bent and weary after all his long years, his beard nearly reaching his
waist after so much time gone. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He
lifted his eyes first, then his head as the door opened, and he felt his heart
skip as though it hadn’t aged as he found himself looking into the very eyes he
had long remembered, finding that he hadn’t forgotten the exact shade of blue
that they were. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Can I help
you?” she asked, her gentle voice breaking the dam behind his heart, and
flooding his mind with thousands of memories of all the times he’d spent with
her, spoken with her and laughed with her in the ages long gone.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Do
you.. know me?” he asked in a tired, weary voice that cracked beneath his age,
and the arduous journey he’d just undergone, watching her eyes as he asked it. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She
cocked her head as he spoke, her forehead creasing as though there was
something in his voice that caught her attention, and she looked into his eyes
more closely as he stepped forward into the glow of the porch light, as though
searching for something as she tried to figure out what it was about him that
seemed so familiar. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I have
lived through all the ages of this world… waiting for you to return to me,” he
said, looking into her blue eyes. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Looking
up into his bright, crystal clear cerulean blue eyes, the young woman felt
something inside her pulling her to him, even as it nagged at her. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Suddenly,
as she searched his eyes, she found it, hidden there, deep within his clear
blue eyes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A
sparkle, a glint that not even his advanced age had taken away from him. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was
as though the last missing puzzle pieces were falling into place as it came to
her. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Nathaniel,”
she breathed with a suddenly bright smile, searching his eyes for any form of
recognition there as tears made her eyes glisten. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To her
surprise, a bright smile crossed his aging lips as he heard his name fall from
her lips, and it twinkled in his ageless eyes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I
thought you were a fantasy,” she whispered, tears in her voice as their eyes
held, “A dream I had—“ she continued, lifting her hand to press her fingertips
to her lips as she fought tears at the thought that he was standing before her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Was I
old, in this dream of yours?” he asked her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“No,”
she said, her forehead creasing at the memory as her voice cracked beneath the
weight of such strong emotion, “You were young. So very young. And so was I.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Have
you been here?” she asked him, searching his eyes curiously from so close, “All
this time?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yes,”
he said, his voice tired as he watched her eyes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“All
these years?” she creased her forehead at the idea.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yes,”
he allowed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Did you
know I was here?” she asked him, her voice hushed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yes,”
he allowed, watching her eyes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Why
didn’t you come to me--?” she broke off, her eyes pained and wondering at the
thought as she regarded him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I had
to wait until you were ready to see me,” he offered, and as he offered her his
quietly shy and awkward smile, the one she’d long remembered, suddenly she saw
the younger version of him standing before her in her mind’s eye. “It wasn’t an
easy feat, Rachel,” he said, searching her eyes, “The last 30 years have been
the longest of my life.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“31,”
she teased with a quietly playful smile, making him laugh despite himself,
making her heart flutter to see the same sparkle in his eyes that she’d long
remembered. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I can’t
believe you remembered me, after all this time,” she shook her head gently,
incredulous, her eyes glistening with tears at the thought.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“My
fondest memories in my life are of you, and the time we had together,” he said
quietly, a warm smile crossing his lips.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“So are
mine,” she said, smiling though her eyes were wet.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Are you
alright?” he asked her, seeing the tears in her eyes as she regarded him
beneath the glow of the porch light.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I never
thought I’d see you like this,” she whispered, and he heard her voice crack
through her tears, “Everyone was telling me you were just a dream I had—“ her
breathing hitched at the thought, “That you were never real—“</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She
stopped as he stepped forward again, lifting her eyes to meet his level gaze.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You
were never a dream, were you?” she asked him, her forehead creasing as their
eyes held.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“There
were times throughout the course of my life that I thought that’s what you
were,” he offered, lifting his hand to her, and, moving her eyes to his hand,
Rachel felt her heart flutter as she realized his hand was trembling slightly
as he reached for her. “A dream I had,” he continued, brushing the backs of his
fingertips whisperingly across her cheek before he withdrew them, as though
suddenly realizing he’d reached for her in the first place. “Then, at long
last, I felt your heart beat for the first time,” he allowed as his hand fell
to his side again, a smile crossing his aged lips and the sparkle returning to
his blue eyes as their eyes held, “I felt you take your first breath, and in
that moment, I knew what it was I’d been waiting for all these years,” he broke
off, and her heart fluttered as she saw the quiet hope in his beautiful eyes,
making her swallow hard.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“And
what was that?” she managed to ask him, not sure she even breathed as she
searched his eyes with her own. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I’ve
waited all the ages of this world for the chance to look into your eyes again,”
he allowed, giving her a gentle smile as he held her gaze, “To have you look
into mine again.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Why?”
she asked, her eyes pained and wondering at the thought as she searched his
eyes. “Why would you wait for me, all this time?” she asked, her voice barely
above a whisper in the wake of all of his thoughtful words.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You
were my heart, Rachel,” he offered with the same smile, searching her eyes, “My
soul. You always were.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“And you
were mine,” she returned, and he saw a tear spill down over her cheek suddenly
as their eyes held.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Will
you come with me?” he asked her, searching her eyes. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yes,”
she answered with a soft smile. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I
didn’t tell you where we’re going,” he laughed softly, his eyes amused at the
thought.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She
smiled simply.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You’ve
waited all this time for me,” she said, searching his gaze, her smile all
warmth, and the love he’d long remembered, “I’d follow you anywhere.”</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
********************</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-15764894525696228732015-08-17T16:58:00.001-07:002015-08-17T16:58:16.651-07:00a question and a request for all of you (and yes, some rambling too)<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ULw0f0EyAMw" width="459"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-31528472723919828292015-08-14T20:57:00.000-07:002015-08-14T21:01:05.320-07:00"Where am I" - short story excerpt by avsongbird (includes audiobook style reading from my youtube)<div class="MsoNormal">
Sand. All
she could see was sand. Sand in all directions. It was in her hair, on her
clothes, in her eyes. It was on the ground and heavy on the dry, blistering
wind that slithered across the parched, flat land like a serpent desperately
searching out its next victim. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As she
blinked, her dry, red-rimmed eyes almost seemed to sigh over what little
moisture was offered by such a natural act.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Blinking
against the noon-day sun, which beat down mercilessly upon her from high
overhead, miles upon miles of dry sagebrush plants suddenly loomed all around
her, silent sentinels left to stand guard of this desolate place, and the lost
soul that now wandered there. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As the heat
pricked at even the back of her neck and knees, she picked a direction and
started walking, figuring that anywhere was better than nowhere. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As she
trudged on through the semi-firm sand, only occasionally stumbling through a
soft patch, her mind was strangely numb, silent.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After a
time, she lifted her head, and she suddenly spotted it in the distance—a
two-lane highway, running left to right as far as she could see, perhaps 100
feet ahead, maybe a bit more.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But it
wasn’t so much the highway that caught her eye. It was what was <u>on</u> the
highway. Or rather, ‘who’.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A young
woman stood on the dotted line, her back to the girl in the desert. She didn’t
move a muscle, just standing, perhaps staring off into the distance beyond.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A horn
suddenly sounded from off to the right, drawing desert girl’s eyes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was a
diesel, hauling three trailers behind it. From the way it was hauling, those
trailers were far from empty. No sound of anything from the truck slowing down.
All that weight was barreling straight for the girl standing in the middle of
the highway, reminding Desert of a bowling alley with one pin left standing,
facing the rolling bowling ball.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Returning
her eyes to the girl on the road, Desert opened her mouth, trying to call to
her, to warn her. But it was no use. Her throat was as cracked and parched as
the landscape.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Feeling
desperate as the truck drew closer, Desert broke into a run, saying a silent
prayer as she bee-lined for the highway girl.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But it was
too late.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The sound
of the young woman’s body hitting the grill nearly made Desert’s heart stop,
even as her legs went into automatic pilot and kept running.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The truck
didn’t even slow down, disappearing quickly over the horizon as Desert finally
reached the blacktop of the highway, her eyes glued on the girl, who lay
face-down across its surface.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Her
heartbeat pounding in her ears, Desert crossed to the girl and, kneeling
carefully beside her, she reached out to curve her hand carefully under the
girl’s arm.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then,
taking a deep breath, she rolled her over in one swift move.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then she
screamed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*****</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When she
opened her eyes again, the sun was setting, and as she forced herself up into a
seated position, she realized that she had passed out in the sand embankment
beside the highway—her back was still turned on what she desperately feared
facing again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Closing her
eyes as though she faced it still, she swallowed over the lump in her throat
and, turning, she looked back to the road.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was
gone. No drag marks, no blood, no hair. There was not a single sign to show
that a body had lain there. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And yet it
had. Or had it?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No, she
reasoned, she had seen it; it had been right there. She still remembered its
hair, its face, its lifeless eyes staring upward, unblinking, unseeing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How could
she ever forget them? She’d seen the same person every time she’d looked into a
mirror.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But how
could it have been? She had no twin. She was alive. Of both she was certain.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After all,
it wasn’t her reality she was doubting as she stood there, staring down at the
spot where the body <u>should</u> have been, but wasn’t.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was her
sanity.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*****</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She
couldn’t remember how long she stood there, staring down at the asphalt as
though she half-expected it to open up and swallow her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Considering
the day she’d been having, she wouldn’t have been surprised if it <u>did</u>,
She might even willingly jump in. Headfirst.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
But the
asphalt never opened up, and the sky never fell, so, finally, she crossed the
highway without really seeing it anymore, her bleary eyes distant, haunted
still by the sight of her body lying on the dotted line as she wandered
aimlessly onward through the <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">sand,
a path which led her ever closer to the mountains in the distance.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iotbm4j9A28</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-45573328246165602912015-07-16T22:12:00.001-07:002015-07-16T22:12:00.518-07:00Avsongbird blog vid #14 writer's block and sunburn<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HTgqr-iRah8" width="459"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-43419962032464796002015-07-15T22:14:00.003-07:002015-07-15T22:15:30.719-07:00"Down the Corridor" - an original short story by avsongbird read audiobook style on my youtube channelhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce1js5n0gKMAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-34404928862100464562015-07-11T18:20:00.001-07:002015-07-11T18:26:09.758-07:00"Run Jesse" - part 10 by avsongbird read audiobook style on my youtube channel<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/J9XXJ0_dT28" width="459"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-68133283365125549072015-07-10T20:04:00.001-07:002015-07-10T20:09:06.802-07:00"Run Jesse"- part 9 by avsongbird<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/74m170r9N04" width="459"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-83986823409850586872015-07-09T19:32:00.001-07:002015-07-09T19:35:49.499-07:00"Run Jesse" part 8 by avsongbird<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/j2yLOopAcps" width="459"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-91224583182643830792015-07-08T20:39:00.001-07:002015-07-08T20:40:10.170-07:00"Run Jesse" part 7 by avsongbird- read in audiobook style on youtube<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vjqlpxmk12M" width="459"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-74863100791175954162015-07-07T18:38:00.001-07:002015-07-07T18:41:50.728-07:00"Run Jesse" part 6 by avsongbird- read in audiobook style on youtube<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/raGvP0-LOlY" width="459"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-89665728289806394472015-07-06T19:33:00.001-07:002015-07-06T19:38:08.990-07:00"Run Jesse" part 5 by avsongbird<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jxAvcjZgaAM" width="459"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-20464706626536735282015-07-06T02:35:00.001-07:002015-07-06T02:38:20.192-07:00you make this worth it<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AD7pu_KtqR8" width="459"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-29545186945151811952015-07-05T21:05:00.001-07:002015-07-06T02:38:53.777-07:00"Run Jesse" part 4 by avsongbird- read audiobook style on youtube <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Vv-f2iGLKkg" width="459"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-33350831382555855352015-07-04T17:56:00.001-07:002015-07-04T17:56:07.701-07:00Run Jesse part 3 audiobook form on youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x99yf7N0yAIAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-50505417562579358572015-07-04T17:54:00.000-07:002015-07-04T17:54:04.651-07:00a question for my readers, viewers, followers<h1 class="yt watch-title-container" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; display: table-cell; margin: 0px 0px 13px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top; width: 824px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-size: 24px; font-weight: normal; white-space: nowrap;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2e4CqedDH4</span></span></h1>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-35376776794504405132015-07-04T17:53:00.000-07:002015-07-04T17:53:10.695-07:00Run Jesse part 2 audiobook form on youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QgjZavS5GoAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-14431785328319248542015-07-04T17:52:00.000-07:002015-07-04T17:52:14.668-07:00"Run Jesse" - part 1 by avsongbird - reading on my youtube channel, audiobook stylehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysxVXrOhnl8Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-86517999248213540502015-07-04T17:51:00.001-07:002015-07-04T17:51:15.804-07:00Lead in for "Run Jesse" by avsongbird-- reading on my youtube channel, audiobook stylehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a8jFfUNOpsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-71035687173288373772015-06-27T22:30:00.000-07:002015-06-29T22:48:41.651-07:00You Shouldn't Be Here<div class="MsoNormal">
Suddenly
as we stood there, face to face, I found it hard to breathe as our eyes held.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Ellie..."
he seemed distracted as our eyes held in that moment. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What?"
I managed, half-holding my breath and silently congratulating myself for
getting the word out. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You
shouldn't be here," he gave a small shake of his head as he searched my
gaze with his own.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It took
me a moment for the words to sink in, and I hoped my face wasn't as flushed as
it felt beneath his gaze. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My
forehead creased as his words hit me, and I gave him a wondering look. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I
thought you said you wanted me here?" I managed a softly awkward and
quietly breathless kind of laugh, regarding him curiously in the wake of his
words at the thought.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I
do," his words were quiet as he searched my gaze, and I suddenly realized
the quietly troubled look in his brown eyes as they held my gaze, "You
shouldn't be here," he gave another small shake of his head at the
thought.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Why
not?" I asked as he bowed his head before me suddenly, half-holding my
breath as he lifted his head and met my gaze again, seeing him search my gaze
as though he were looking for something, leaving me wondering what it was he
was looking for in my eyes. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He seemed
hesitant as our eyes held that time. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You
should go," he nodded towards the door behind me, leaving me at a loss and
letting out a quietly incredulous laugh at his words as I saw him turn and
start back across his apartment.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You
asked me to drive all the way out here to ask me to leave?" I asked him
with another softly wondering and incredulous kind of laugh at the thought,
feeling my heart trip as he stopped mid-step at the sound of my words, leaving
him standing with his back towards me, "James, what the hell--?" I
laughed softly again, my nerves breaking through in my voice.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Ellie,
I'm trying to do the right thing here," his voice was quiet as he
half-turned his head towards me, and I realized he was keeping his eyes lowered
as he spoke; that his shoulders were slumped. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Do
you want me here, or don't you?" I demanded quietly, crossing towards him
with careful steps as I watched his lowered eyes, stopping to stand behind his
left shoulder.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"It's
not a matter of whether or not I want you here, Ellie," he sighed as he
shook his head, appearing frustrated as he said it, bowing his head low. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Then
what <u>is</u> it a matter of?" I asked him, watching his profile from
over his shoulder as we stood together just beyond the entryway. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My heart
hiccuped as he turned his head and met my gaze from over his shoulder, his
forehead creasing as our eyes held once again, and I saw his Adam's apple bob
as he swallowed hard, making me wonder what it was that had him so off-balance
suddenly.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You
shouldn't be here," he said finally as our eyes held, his look grave, and
if I didn't know better, I thought I might have seen regret in his eyes. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What's
wrong?" I asked him, searching his gaze, my forehead creasing as I tried
to figure out what it was about my being there that suddenly had him so ill at
ease, "Is it something I said? Was it something I--"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"It's
everything," he said, stopping me mid-sentence and bringing me to lift my
eyes to meet his. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I
swallowed hard, feeling my heart ache at the thought that I'd apparently done
or said something that upset him, when that was the last thing I'd ever wanted
to do.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I'm
sorry," I offered, feeling heat behind my eyes and blinking to keep
heartbroken tears from falling as they rose to blur my vision, "Whatever
it was, whatever I said, whatever I did--" I managed, feeling my heart
ache in my chest as I heard my voice crack as I turned from him, to make my way
back towards the door.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was
caught off-guard as I suddenly felt him reach out and take me by my right upper
arm, and as I let him lead me to turn back to face him, suddenly I felt his
right hand curve around the side of my neck, drawing me forward.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And
then, suddenly, I felt the warm, insistent press of his lips against mine, and
my eyelids slid closed instinctively as I found myself softly pressing back
against his lips with my own.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-73970928991969341802015-06-24T23:27:00.001-07:002015-06-24T23:30:54.396-07:00AVSongbird blog #7 playlist updates, upcoming song vids, drabbles, poetry<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AtuQkZIwLms" width="459"></iframe><br />
<br />
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 24px;">
I've added vids of me reading examples of my work on my youtube, for those of you who'd like to see me doing that, and for those of you who like your reading in more of an audio format because a few of you have been asking me for that. I hope you like the changes. I posted quite a bit of everything, didn't want to put all the links on here and inundate you guys with links. </div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<br data-mce-bogus="1" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Thanks guys,</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Jen K. (Avsongbird)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-25539678529076909222015-06-24T20:52:00.000-07:002015-06-24T20:52:11.639-07:00Haunting Me<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;">
Haunting Me</h3>
<div class="post-header" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 10.8000001907349px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">
<div class="post-header-line-1">
</div>
</div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-4893370876850854164" itemprop="description articleBody" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 570px;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Would you like a refill there, Katie?" the heavily-accented woman brought her out of her thoughts, and she lifted her eyes from where they'd been watching her middle finger run circles around the rim of her half-full wine glass.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Hmm? Oh, no thank you, Kahlan," she flashed a smile at the woman behind the counter.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Okay," Kahlan allowed a low chuckle, "Who is he?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Hmm?" Katie swallowed the sip of wine she'd taken, returning her glass to the bar as she looked over at the bartender again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Must have amazing eyes to make you daydream that hard," the young woman laughed, cleaning a glass as she stood behind the bar that stood between them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Yeah right," Katie scoffed at the idea, taking another drink from her glass, her eyes going distant as she continued circling the glass rim with her fingertip again, "Have you seen the men around here?" she laughed as she regarded the woman across the bar from her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Yeah," Kahlan laughed in kind, "Unfortunately I have."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"See?" Katie smirked, lifting her glass to take a drink of her wine.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"A good man is hard to find," Kahlan noted, seeing the empty look in the other woman's eyes, the pain there.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"If not impossible," she allowed with a soft nod.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I could drink to that," Kahlan laughed, looking past the girl's shoulder as the door to the bar opened, and a new group came in behind the woman who'd been chatting with her all evening, "Or not."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Katie, lost to her thoughts again, didn't hear her, or the door.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nor did she hear the sound of approaching footsteps as one of the men crossed towards the bar.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Hi," a voice broke in behind Katie's right shoulder, and she turned her head to find herself looking at one of the newcomers, who had eyes for the woman behind the bar.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Hi," Kahlan nodded to him, "What can I get you?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Two Guinness and a <st1:city>Corona</st1:city>, please?" the man reacted.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You've got it," Kahlan turned to get the drinks ready for him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Are you sure you won't change your mind?" another voice caught the attention of Katie and the newcomer at the bar as one of the other newcomers came to stand with the first man, "Won't be the same without you."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I told you, I have plans for tomorrow," the first man laughed him off.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What's more important than a pub tour?" the second man scoffed at the idea, and Katie did her best not to smirk as she did her best to play deaf and dumb in her seat at the bar.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Maybe I'm sick of pubs--" the first guy laughed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You realize the irony of that statement, don't you?" Kahlan's voice caught the attention of the three people at the bar as she stepped up before the men, setting the tray with their drinks on the counter before them and meeting the first man's eyes with a teasing grin.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"They've been dragging me all over the country for a month now," the man explained aside to her, "Hostels, pubs, restaurants--"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You poor thing," Kahlan said with mock sympathy, her grin giving away her sarcasm even more than her tone did.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I want to take in a little history before we head back--" the man insisted.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Alright, so what's her name?" another voice spoke up, bringing everyone at the bar to turn to find the third man coming to join them by the bar.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What's who's name?" the first man asked him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"History," the third man smirked, "You're passing up a pub tour, there's gotta be a girl involved--"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"No there doesn't," the first man laughed, shaking his head.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Have you met you?" the second man laughed, catching his attention.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Darkmoor," the first man said, turning to pay for the drinks and moving to hand them out to his friends.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kahlan and Katie exchanged a look at the name.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"And if you still don't believe me, I've got the pamphlets back in the hostel," the first man said, taking up his Guinness and taking a drink.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Pamphlets?" the second man smirked as the third man took a drink, "What is this, a school trip?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I love castles," the first man shrugged.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Since when?" the third man laughed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Maybe you guys don't know me as well as you think you do," the first man reasoned, taking a drink of his Guinness.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Really?" the third man smirked, looking unconvinced.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Yeah," the first man nodded, "We're in the area, it's right here, thought I'd check it out before we headed home."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Yeah well," the second man caught his attention as he turned to head across the bar, "Enjoy your pamphlets. Jason, darts?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Bring it on," Jason said, turning and following him off towards the dartboard hanging in the corner.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Hey, can I ask you something?" the first man asked as he turned back to the bar, nodding to Kahlan as she returned her attention to him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I think you just did," she laughed softly as she regarded him, and again, Katie bit back the urge to smile from her stool just a few stools to the man's left, down the bar.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Huh? Oh," he laughed, settling down on the barstool, "Do you know Darkmoor?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"'Bloodmoor'?" she corrected with its infamous local nickname, "You'd be hard-pressed to find any local who doesn't. And I've lived here all my life."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I'm supposed to go on a tour of the place in the morning," the man said.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Ohh, you're braver than I am," Kahlan allowed a low chuckle.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Why do you say that?" the man regarded her curiously.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Look, you seem like a nice enough guy, mr--" Kahlan nodded to him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"David," he introduced, holding his hand out to her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Kahlan," she nodded to him, shaking his hand.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Good to meet you," David nodded.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Likewise," Kahlan flashed him an easy smile, "Anyway, story is, the Lord of the Castle doesn't take well to men in his house."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"From what little I've read, I heard more of the paranormal activity in the place is focused on women than men?" he regarded her curiously.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Aye," Kahlan nodded slowly, "But it's not of the same sort as the men," she allowed, "Both have been attacked though.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Attacked?" David regarded her curiously, "No one said anything about anyone being attacked--"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I'm not surprised," Kahlan's laugh was derisive, "Scares the tourists."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What makes you think I'm a tourist?" David puffed up at the idea.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Call it a hunch," Kahlan chuckled as she turned and got back to cleaning glasses.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Have you heard the stories of the caverns beneath the castle?" a soft accent drew their eyes towards the woman seated at the bar, and Kahlan shot a look at Katie as she worked.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Beneath? What do you mean?" David turned to her, his look wondering. as he lifted his glass to take a drink.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You sure you wanna hear this?" she laughed as she regarded him, her smile musing, her eyes playful.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Yeah," he nodded, and she smiled despite herself as he took the stool beside her uninvited at the obvious interest in his expression as he regarded her, "The guy at the tour place didn't really say much."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Andy's a good guy," Katie allowed a soft smile.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You know him?" David asked her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Small town," Katie indicated their surroundings.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I'm sorry; I didn't catch your name," his forehead creased as he regarded her, and she smiled despite her best efforts as she realized he seemed honestly bothered by it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Katheryn," she introduced herself, "Call me Katie."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"David," he offered an easy smile that suddenly broadened into a smirk, "Call me David."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Pleasure," she flashed him a smile, nodding her head to him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Well, 'Call me David', whenever Lord Owen became angry at his subjects or servants, or anyone in general who crossed his path, he would have them brought to the very bowels of the castle, down circular stairs cut into the limestone, to the dungeons deep beneath the castle, where they believed they were being led to be flogged. Suddenly, the floor would drop out from under them, and they would fall into their own personal oubliette-- a dark, deep, well-like room where they were forgotten, and left to suffer unimaginable pain and misery until their death," she stated quietly.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Wow. No, I hadn't heard any of that," David raised his eyebrows.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Not exactly the kind of thing you put on a brochure," Kahlan chuckled lowly, catching their attention as she stood opposite the bar.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Welcome to Darkmoor castle, please check out our bloody dungeons and mass graves. Try the bubble and squeak," Katie laughed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"So what else have you heard about this place?" David asked, catching Katie's attention as she took a drink of her wine.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She swallowed over the drink she'd taken, feeling the smile that curved her lips at his interest.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"A white phantom is said to walk the top wall of the castle at night, a woman, seemingly in search of something she can never find, and a hideous, evil-eyed figure is often sighted within the walls of the castle itself. Some say it's Owen himself, twisted into the hideous creature that his soul took on during the man evil deeds he did in life," she said, setting her glass down atop the bar.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I heard that there's a ghost in the castle who responds to women more often than men?" David noted.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"That would be Owen," she allowed easily, "He always considered himself something of a lady's man."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Are you free tomorrow?" David asked her, leaning his elbow atop the countertop as he regarded her, watching her face.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Are you asking me out?" she smirked, lifting her glass to take a drink.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I don't know," his laugh was soft, his grin awkward, "Maybe?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You don't get out much, do you?" she laughed despite herself at his awkward style.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I just spent the last 8 months in class full-time, so no," he laughed, shaking his head, "I don't get out much."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Katie laughed, letting herself enjoy his smile and trying her best not to show it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What do you think, Kahlan?" Katie moved her eyes to the woman behind the bar, standing opposite her, "Should I go ghost-hunting tomorrow?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You're the one who was telling me she needed more excitement in her life," Kahlan laughed back.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I'll drink to that," Katie laughed, taking up her wine glass and meeting David's gaze, "To thrills and chills."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"And getting out in one piece," David chuckled softly, toasting her glass with his own.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
***************</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"That's it?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Katie smirked at the incredulous tone in David's voice as she followed the others out of the castle, the two of them at the back of the group as they walked.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What were you expecting?" Katie laughed softly as they stopped at the end of the walkway, turning to face him, "Flying sheets and clanking chains?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I mean, not even a gift shop?" he reasoned, turning and waving his arm to indicate the castle as he turned to look back at it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Buy a mini guillotine for the kiddies," Katie bit back a laugh, her smirk musing as she regarded him, "Hours of family fun."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Ha ha," his laugh was sarcastic.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I kind of enjoyed it," Katie smirked at him, her look playful as he met her gaze.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You said you felt like something was watching you--"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Yeah, the old guy with the limp," she nodded, "Remember him?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"No, before that," he shook his head, "In the dining room, wasn't it?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"It was probably nothing--" she shook her head.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Probably," he stopped her, stepping in closer before her, "Look, I'm leaving tomorrow, to head back to school--"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Okay?" she regarded him curiously, getting the feeling he was getting to something.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Do you know of any way we could get back in there and--" he nodded towards the gate.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Why would I--?" her laugh was incredulous.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You said it yourself, this is a small town--" he started.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Well, yeah, but this is Bloodmoor--!" she indicated it with a softly incredulous laugh.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Katie, please?" he stopped her, bringing her to meet his gaze, "I just want to know if there's anything to it."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She drew in a soft breath as their eyes held, letting it out in a soft sigh.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I'll talk to Andrew," she offered.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Yes!" he grinned. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"But no promises," she pointed her finger at him, her look warning as she bit back a smile at his enthusiasm.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He held his hands up in supplication, grinning as she turned on her heel and headed off to talk to their tour guide.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
**********</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I don't know what you were expecting, my boy," Andrew said as they walked together towards the front gate.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You didn't have to take us back through--" David offered as they made their way out, with Katie following behind him quietly.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I wasn't about to let you go wandering around in there alone," Andrew allowed a soft laugh as he turned to face them in the gateway, "Anything happens in there, I'm responsible for--"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What would happen?" David regarded him curiously.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I was young once too, lad," Andrew shot him a knowing look, nodding towards Katie, who'd turned to look back up towards the castle.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Oh, we're not--" David shook his head dismissively.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Andrew shot him a no-nonsense, stony sort of look, and David felt his smile fade, and he cleared his throat, shifting his weight awkwardly beneath the older man's gaze.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I'm old, son, but I'm not blind," Andrew chuckled softly, clapping him on the back before he turned and busied himself with locking the gate closed behind them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Turning, David felt the smile that curved his lips as he regarded the woman standing beside him, her gaze on the castle set atop the hill.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You okay?" he asked her with a soft smile, bringing her to turn and meet his gaze.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Yeah," she managed a smile.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You sure?" he regarded her curiously, "You've been quiet."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Just tired," she said with the same smile, shaking her head, "<st1:place>Lot</st1:place> of walking."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Not worn out already are you?" he asked her, bringing her to lift her eyes to meet his gaze, "Was gonna ask you to have dinner with me."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I'm sorry, I'm not feeling well," Katie shook her head gently, "I think I want to head back to Kahlan's."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Kahlan's?" David reacted, "What, you need a drink?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I have a room there," Katie offered as they started back.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Oh?" David noted, "I thought you were a local."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I am," Katie offered as they walked, "We grew up together."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Oh," he nodded, "Walk you home?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Aren't you kind of already doing that?" she laughed softly as she met his gaze.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Kind of?" his grin was awkward, and they laughed softly.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You really need to get out more," she laughed as they walked.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You have no idea," he laughed, shaking his head as they went.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
**********</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
David was jolted awake, and he awoke sitting up in his bed, his shirt soaked in sweat and clinging to him, the last semblances of nightmare fading away, his heart hammering hard against his ribs as he sat there, struggling to recover his breath as he closed his eyes and bowed his head.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He tensed as he heard a low pounding somewhere in the distance, tensing and lifting his head, his forehead creasing as he listened to the darkness.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nothing. He figured he must've imagined it as he sat there, trying to remember what it was he'd been dreaming about.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then the pounding came again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"David!"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kahlan, he recognized her voice, and he slipped out of bed, driven by the panic in her voice as she pounded at his door.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Opening his door, he found her standing there in her pajamas, her robe open over them, her hair wild as he stepped into the hallway at the base of the stairs, that led up to her apartment.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From the looks of things, he wasn't the only one who'd been woken up, he reasoned.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What's going on?" he asked her, blinking his eyes against the harsh hallway light after the relative darkness of his room.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I can't get the door open," Kahlan indicated the door across the hall from his.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Don't you have a key?" he asked her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I've never needed one," Kahlan insisted.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They both froze as they heard the pounding come again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What the hell is that?" David reacted.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Something's wrong," Kahlan said.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"It could be nothing--" he offered.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"David," Kahlan shook her head, her look insistent, worried, "I heard her crying out."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"She could be dreaming," David reasoned.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Suddenly, there was a crashing sound from the room opposite, and they moved their eyes to the door.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Crossing to the door, David tried the knob, and found it locked.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You don't think I tried that?" Kahlan demanded.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Do you mind if I--?" he made to shoulder the door as he met her gaze.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Go," Kahlan waved him into it, and, bracing, he threw his shoulder into it, sending the door flying open.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Katie?" Kahlan called out from over his shoulder as they went inside.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Their attention was drawn across the room as a hard, heavy banging hit the wall again, harder this time than it had been a moment ago, with such force it nearly knocked the landscape painting off of the wall across from them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"The bathroom," Kahlan breathed, moving to go around David, to head that way.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Kahlan wait here," David insisted, moving to place himself between her and the bathroom as they headed that way.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"But--" Kahlan argued.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"We called the cops!" David called out towards the closed bathroom door, "If there's anyone else in there, you'd better clear out now."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Meeting Kahlan's wide, scared eyes, David saw her nod, then turning the knob, he threw the door open, with Kahlan following close behind him as they moved into the bathroom.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They both turned as they saw movement in the corner of their eye, and they were greeted by the site of Katie's bare legs kicking wildly at the air and kicking at the wall in a desperate attempt to get their attention.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Kate?" he moved his eyes to her face, and he hurried to the tub when he realized she was on her back, the top half of her body being held under water as she fought with some invisible force that was holding her there.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thinking only of getting her up before she drowned, he fell to his knees beside the tub, reaching out and closing his hands around her bare arms as he moved to pull her out.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He was surprised when he felt resistance, and he knew in the same instant he felt it, that it wasn't coming from her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Someone-- something, was holding her down under that water.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Kahlan!!" he called out, his muscles bulging in his arms as he fought whoever it was holding her beneath the water.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I'm here," Kahlan was instantly beside him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Are you-- are you seeing this?!" he demanded.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What is she--?" Kahlan had tears in her eyes, her expression horrified as she watched Katie struggle in the water, hearing her gasp as she managed to get her mouth above the surface long enough to cough and gasp before she was under again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Does she have some kind of condition, or--?" he asked, trying to figure out what was happening to her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"No, she doesn't have a condition!" Kahlan shot back.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Then what the hell--?" David struggled with her, trying to pull her up.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kahlan's face went blank, her eyes wide as she watched her friend struggle in the tub.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Owen..." she breathed, her face pale at the thought.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Dammit, let go of her!" David swore, pulling harder.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Just then, whatever it was released her, and she flew up out of the water, the water streaming down off of her as she coughed and gasped for breath.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Kate," David checked, cupping her face in his hands, his eyes searching her wide eyes as she sat trembling before him, her nightclothes clinging to her, "Are you okay?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I was-- I was--" she gasped, eyes wide, scared as she coughed hard.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Shh, don't try to talk, just breathe," he assured her, "You're okay now."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She was trembling all over, despite the hot water, and David frowned to see how frightened she was.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I'm gonna go get her a shot of something," Kahlan caught his attention as she started for the doorway, "Soothe her nerves," she reasoned as she took her leave, leaving them alone in the bathroom for the moment.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What, didn't feel like taking your clothes off before you took a bath, or did you just forget?" he managed a softly awkward kind of laugh, bringing her to lift her eyes to meet his gaze.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I wasn't taking a bath, David," she shook her head gently, "I was--"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What?" he asked, bringing her to meet his eyes again as he gently lifted both of them onto their feet, helping her to step out of the tub as Kahlan retrieved a towel for her, "Sleep-walking?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She bowed her head as he unfolded the towel and wrapped it around her, absently lifting her hands to hold the towel up around her shoulders.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Are you alright?" he asked her after he realized her trembling was lessening as she stood there, drip-drying before him in her nightclothes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"We have to go back," she said quietly, lifting her eyes to meet his gaze.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You're serious," he noticed the determined look in her eyes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Very," she allowed in a quiet way.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Kate--" he shook his head, his forehead creasing at her suddenly serious and determined look, "What the hell happened?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"They're not done with us yet," she allowed simply.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Who's not done with us?" he asked her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"David, I need you to trust me--!" she insisted.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You almost drowned, Kate," he shot back, stopping her mid-sentence, and he saw her close her mouth in the wake of his words, "It makes sense that you'd be scared--"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I'm not scared," she shook her head as he started to steer her towards the door.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"We should get you some dry clothes," he offered.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Dammit, David, look at me," she tugged her arm away from his grip, bringing him to turn and meet her gaze as they stood in her small bathroom, "I'm not frightened, I'm not hysterical. And I'm telling you, they want us to go back to Darkmoor."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And as he saw the determination in her eyes, the way the water was still streaming down off of her form and pooling around her feet, David felt a chill run down his spine.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
**********</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"How is she?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kahlan looked up as she came out of Katie's bedroom, pulling the door closed behind her, to find David sitting on the back of the couch, his hands folded absently between his knees.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I wish I could say she was hysterical," Kahlan's laugh was derisive as she crossed to join him, "God knows I would have been if I'd been the one that--"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"She thinks the ghosts want us back in the castle," David said quietly, his look serious as he regarded the woman before him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What do you think?" Kahlan asked him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I think I could use a drink," David allowed an exhausted laugh.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You and me both," Kahlan laughed softly, "Come on; I'll set us up."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
**********</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Holy shit," David half-laughed, half-coughed, setting his glass down on the counter.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I know, right?" Kahlan chuckled, "Was my grand-dad's. Kept it hidden from my grandmother, so she wouldn't throw it out," she laughed, lifting her glass to take a drink.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Your grand-dad was a very smart man," David laughed, taking a drink of his Scotch.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As she stood opposite the bar from him, Kahlan felt the smile fade from her lips as she watched him swallow over the drink he'd taken.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reaching into her back pocket, she drew something out, and David lowered his glass as he heard the sound of a heavy, metallic object thunking down onto the counter between them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
His forehead creased as his gaze fell on a key-ring on top of the counter.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What're those for?" he asked her, lifting his glass as he watched her eyes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Andrew's my uncle," Kahlan offered as she lifted her glass, feeling the wondering gaze he gave her as she took a drink.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Are those to--" he started.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Mmm-hmm," she nodded as she swallowed over the drink she'd taken.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You're not seriously considering--" his laugh was dismissive, incredulous at the thought.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You don't know Katie like I do," she shook her head, meeting his gaze, her look serious, "She won't let this go until she's had a look around on her own."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I thought you said she was alright," David pointed out quietly as he set his glass down.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I said she wasn't hysterical," Kahlan defended as their eyes held, her look as serious as his was, "And she wasn't."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Then why do you need the keys?" he asked her pointedly.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Holding his gaze a moment, Kahlan seemed to be holding her breath. Then, suddenly, she lifted her glass, surprising the man across from her by draining it entirely before she set it down atop the bar again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"There's something you need to know about Katie," she said quietly as she bowed her head before him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What's that?" he asked her, regarding her curiously.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I've known her all my life," Kahlan said.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Yeah, she mentioned that you grew up together," David nodded, lifting his glass.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"She only recently got back into town," Kahlan offered.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Where from?" he asked her conversationally, taking a drink.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"She was--" Kahlan broke off, hesitant, and she shifted awkwardly before him, shaking her head, "Where she was doesn't matter."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What are you saying?" David sighed, impatient with her sudden seeming theatrics.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Katie sees things," Kahlan said quietly as their eyes held, "Always has."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What, like hallucinations?" he asked her, regarding her curiously.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"No," Kahlan shook her head, "She.. knows.. things," she admitted carefully.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"O..kay?" he allowed a softly wondering laugh, shooting her a wondering look.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I know it sounds crazy," Kahlan offered, "I'd think it was crazy, too if I hadn't known her all my life--"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Kahlan--" David shook his head.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"She's always hated Darkmoor," Kahlan interrupted him, bringing him to meet her gaze, "Would never set foot inside its walls. When we were kids, we'd play in the hills all around the castle, and she never once put so much as a foot in the shadow of its walls."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"So what changed?" he asked her, his look wondering as he regarded her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You did," Kahlan said.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What?" his look was suspicious at her words, and he allowed an awkwardly dismissive laugh at them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I know, it sounds cheesy," Kahlan allowed a similar laugh, "But I tried forever to get her to go check it out with me, and she never would. You show up and suddenly she's all about it."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Maybe she likes my ass," David smirked, lifting his glass, his look teasing as she met his gaze.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I considered that," Kahlan laughed, lifting her own drink.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Despite himself, David laughed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Really?" he chuckled, watching her drink, "I thought I was kidding."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"She likes the brainy type," Kahlan shrugged it off.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What makes you think I'm the brainy type?" he asked her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kahlan smirked at him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"That obvious, huh?" he smirked despite himself.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Oh yeah," Kahlan laughed, lifting her glass as he shook his head and lifted his.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They both turned at the sound of footsteps in the doorway, in time to see Katie come walking in, wearing fresh clothes and her coat.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I thought you were asleep," David noted as their eyes met.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Told you," Kahlan's voice caught his attention, bringing him to turn to look back and find her corking the bottle of Scotch and putting it back behind the bar.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He watched her come around the bar before he turned to lift and drain his glass.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You sure about this?" Kahlan was asking Katie as he moved to join them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Katie's eyes were glittering in a way that made the hair stand up on the back of his neck.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Absolutely," she said, holding Kahlan's gaze.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Then it's settled," Kahlan said, turning her head to meet David's gaze before she met Kahlan's again, "We go back to Darkmoor."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
***********</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Are you okay?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Katie allowed the softest smile at the hesitance and concern in his voice from a bit behind her, a bit further down the steps than she was as they ascended the curving spiral staircase that led up to the main corridor that ran past the West Wing of the castle.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I'm fine," she allowed a soft laugh, feeling an inexplicable tumbling feeling in the pit of her stomach when she realized how small it sounded, stifled in the heavy darkness of the stairwell.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"If you decide to turn around, I wouldn't hold it against you," he offered as they made their way up into the main corridor and turned left, down the hallway, with him on her right, "You know? You've been through a lot today."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"That's just it, David. Never in the history of this place has he ever followed anyone home. Why now? Why me? There's something about me that speaks to him in ways no one else ever has," she stated quietly, "I wanna know why."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"So why me?" he asked her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What do you mean?" she shot him a wondering look.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Kahlan said you steered well clear of this place all your life," he reasoned, "Now I show up and suddenly you can't get enough of the place."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"And you think it's because of you?" her expression turned musing suddenly, "Kind of egotistical, aren't you?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Actually, that was Kahlan's idea," David mused as they walked, his flashlight beam bouncing off the floor ahead of them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
His grin broadened as she allowed an easy laugh at his words.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"We can turn back, Kate," he offered, stopping and turning to face her as she stopped to look back.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I want to know why he came after me," she insisted as their eyes held.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Why do you keep saying he came after you?" he asked her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Because he did," she insisted.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"How do you know it was--" he started.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Because I saw him," she shot back, her look determined.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"In your dream," David said, watching her eyes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"In my bathroom," Katie corrected, "I woke up, and I went into the bathroom to get a drink of water, and I saw him, standing behind me in the mirror. He had this-- look-- on his face..." she trailed off, and David felt the hair standing up on the back of his neck at the distant, haunted look he saw in her eyes at the thought.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She lifted her eyes to meet his gaze, and his gut clenched uncomfortably.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I have to do this," she insisted quietly as their eyes held, "And I need your help."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What do you need me to do?" he asked her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You're not gonna argue with me?" she asked him, her look wondering at the thought.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Would it do any good?" he asked her with a soft laugh.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Not really, no," she laughed, shaking her head.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Then what's the point?" he shrugged it off. "Shall we?" he indicated the hallway, turning and starting off after her as she started off again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
********</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Suddenly, Katie stopped mid-step.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What?" David stopped two steps beyond her, turning back when he realized she'd stopped, and wondering at the distant look in her eyes by the light of his flashlight, "Kate?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Do you hear that?" she asked, her eyes seeming dazed, her voice hushed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I didn't hear--"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He stopped when whispers began from somewhere in the darkness at the end of the corridor, and she reached out and touched his arm with a trembling hand.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Is that a dead end?" David asked, raising an eyebrow without realizing it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Bad word choice, David," Katie laughed nervously, stepping past him and continuing slowly but steadily down the corridor, towards the sound.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Sorry," he laughed back, following behind her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"There's something here," she said quietly, dazed again, stopping before the wall at the end of the hallway.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Well yeah, that's the fireplace the owner talked about," David reasoned, wondering at the look in her eyes as he watched her, and finding himself even more curious when she stepped up towards the fireplace, her eyes still distant, to reach up for the old hourglass on the mantelpiece.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Kate, be--" he froze when she pushed the glass, moving it to the right just slightly, and he heard a heavy click, then watched as the fireplace slid back enough to open a doorway, "-- careful."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"You worried about me, David?" she turned back to look in his direction with a soft laugh, and he laughed despite himself at the musing look on her face by the light of his flashlight, meeting her gaze from across the beam.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Maybe," he allowed a quietly musing smile of his own as their eyes held.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Maybe?" her smile was similar as she watched his eyes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Maybe you're growing on me," he shrugged noncommittally, watching as she turned and started through the opening. "Kate, wait," he reached out and took her arm, drawing her back a few steps and stopping her, making her look up at him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What?" she reacted.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Do you want me to go first?" he asked her, nodding towards the opening behind her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"No, I wanna go first," she allowed a soft smile, gently squeezing his arm with her hand before returning her eyes to the room, and clearing her throat, "Here goes nothing."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I'm right behind you," he assured her, sliding his hand searchingly down her arm and interlacing his fingers with hers when he found them, to reassure her as he squeezed for a moment, then let go, to allow him to move in through the narrow opening.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The room beyond the hidden doorway was small, and furnished with ornate furnishings and linens that had been seemingly well maintained, aside from being covered in the dust of ages come and gone, and worn down by time and the weather.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The air itself in the room had the feeling of holding its breath as they began to look over the interior. David had to fight to keep from coughing from all the dust.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Lilliana..." Katie whispered suddenly in the darkness, from behind David, the sound alone sending shivers down his spine for no reason he could explain.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Kate, why did you say that name?" he asked her, turning in her direction in the darkness, and looking at her from above the beam of his flashlight.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"That's her name," Katie said in a dreamy way, cocking her head slightly as though listening for something, or perhaps remembering something, "The woman who lived in this room."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Did Kahlan tell you her name or something?" David asked, feeling the hair stand up on the back of his neck as he watched her drift past him as though on tiptoe, drifting towards the canopy bed set in the middle of the wall halfway across the room.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"No," she answered quietly, reaching out and lightly brushing her fingertips over the comforter on the old bed, "It just came to me suddenly... Who was she, David?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"According to what little history I've found on this place, the story goes that she was a girl from the local village that crossed Owen's path in the market by chance one day, and he ordered her brought to the castle. They say she was obsessed with her the rest of his life."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"She was in love with him..." Katie's voice was faraway, dreamy, as she stared down at the bed, letting the fronts of her legs rest against the edge of it as David looked over the room, moving around to try and see what he could find in the new area they'd found.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Not much to it, seems like," David's words brought her to lift her eyes from the bed as he sat down hard on the other side, still looking around the room.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Perhaps you're looking at it wrong," Katie said quietly, skirting the bed and coming around to stand in front of him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What do you mean?" he asked with an amused smile on his face, lifting his gaze to look at her as he lifted the flashlight enough to just illuminate her enough to allow their eyes to meet.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
His smile faded when he saw the distant look in her eyes as she regarded him, and he saw how distant and dazed she seemed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Suddenly, off behind Katie, the fireplace came roaring to life, and both of them jumped at the sudden motion and sound and light from behind her, then laughed when they realized what had happened.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks so," Katie laughed, reaching up to brush her hair back out of her eyes as she allowed half a smile, turning back to meet David's eyes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She was caught off-guard at the strange, fascinated look in his eyes as he regarded her, his flashlight on the floor by his foot, dropped, discarded, and already forgotten, and she felt a shiver pass through her as she held his gaze.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"David?" she tried, stepping forward as she searched his distant and dazed eyes that moved over her face as though he'd forgotten who she was, "Are you okay?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I'm perfect," he breathed, the ghost of a smile playing on his lips as he regarded her quietly by the firelight.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Are you sure?" she laughed, unaware that she stepped up closer to him and stood with her feet between his feet as she watched his face.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Lily..." David's voice was dreamy as he watched her eyes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Katie gasped, shivers running down her spine as she felt something wash over her from behind, like a wave crashing down upon her, and she felt something take hold of her, making her body tingle pleasantly all over in a way she'd never experienced before.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Owen..." she breathed in a voice that was her own, but not her own, as she held David's eyes from somewhere deep inside of herself, knowing that whatever it was had taken her over, was taking control of her, and wasn't seeing David sitting on the edge of the bed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"My Lily," David said in a voice that was his own, but not his own, as he reached up his hand and gently touched Katie's face.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Owen..." Lily groaned in Katie's voice, as David curved his hand around the side of her neck and pulled her forward, to kiss her deeply.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Inside herself, Katie knew what was happening, just as she realized in her own mind that David must know what was happening.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The two had been lovers for a time, and somehow they'd been separated, by fate and by time. And this room-- the room they had shared in their too-short time together, had been walled up and hidden away for God knew how many years, for whatever reason.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It had been completely cut off and devoid of life... until now.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And now, with the arrival of David and Katie in the castle, they'd seen something in those particular two that had reminded them of themselves, and they had sensed that their time had come, to find each other, and to feel each other again through the ones Owen himself had called back to the castle.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Suddenly brought back to the present, Katie felt herself wrapping her arms around David's neck as he drew her forward and turned her, laying her on her back as he pulled his shirt off and threw it aside.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
******************</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The next thing Katie knew, it was morning, and she was waking to find the fire going anew in the fireplace, the sun peeking in through the window she knew the others had never been able to explain from the outside.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Feeling David stir, she only then realized that she'd fallen asleep beside him, facing him with their legs entangled in each other and the sheets.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Looking up, she saw a mist forming near the fireplace, and, gasping as she saw two forms beginning to take definite shape there, she reached out to touch the shoulder of the man beside her, lying between her and the figures with his back towards them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"David, wake up," she said, shaking his shoulder.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Hmm-- what?" he opened one eye, then tensed when he saw her there, turning to look behind him when she nodded her head in that direction.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I wanted to thank you," the woman said, her voice soft, musical as it came.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She was tall, and slender, with pale, ivory skin and long dark hair, her eyes piercingly blue as they regarded the two figures in the bed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"It has been so long since we've been together," Lily offered with a gentle smile, "We could never have found our way back to each other again without your help."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I, too, owe you my gratitude," Owen said beside her, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her back against him as he kissed the side of her head, his eyes shining with his smile, "You helped me find the one who made me happier than anything in all the world. When fate saw fit to take her from me, with a terrible illness, I was lost... I never imagined..."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Hush, my love," Lily turned to him, her eyes shining with her love for him, "Nothing will ever separate us again."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He kissed her, his eyes shining in his love for her, then she turned to face the two in the bed, crossing to them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Katie felt a shiver pass through her as Lily seemed to drift through the bed, stopping close enough to lift her hand to cup Katie's face with it, and Katie felt a shiver of electricity pass through her body in the wake of the ghost's touch.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Both of you have wandered this life in search of something just beyond your reach," Lily said, turning her gaze to each of them in kind, "Of someone just beyond your sight, as Owen and I have for all these years. And in your search, you've brought people into your lives and into your beds, but never have you found one that you could never walk away from, one you could never forget."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Know that your meeting as you did, was not by chance, and should not be lightly cast aside," Owen said, coming forward and catching both of their attention as Lily moved to join him again, and he came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And with that, they were gone, leaving the fire, and the rising sun moving into the room, and the two in the bed to realize that they were in the bed, as it started to fully sink in, what had happened between them the night before.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"So," David caught her attention, bringing her to turn to meet his gaze, and she found a smirk crossing his lips as his gaze held hers, "Breakfast?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Shaking her head as she laughed, she clubbed him with a pillow, cracking up despite herself, and feeling her heart flutter as his easy laughter joined hers.</div>
<br /><div class="MsoNormal">
**********************</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-79939416268332394472015-06-23T23:54:00.000-07:002015-06-23T23:54:34.796-07:00AVSongbird blog vid #6 Puppy! and a question for my viewers, followers, readers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9fbwVEXs10Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-83003674689631113322015-06-23T23:53:00.001-07:002015-06-23T23:53:11.889-07:00AVSongbird blog vid #5- music, stories, life stuff, and youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBGdllonWNAAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060342929640691589.post-69678913383941039742015-06-18T06:13:00.001-07:002015-06-27T22:32:04.223-07:00For my mother, with love and affection vid<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ByjFU406y54" width="459"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13681194896808867078noreply@blogger.com0