TV Review: The Mentalist

When The Mentalist first started, I thought it was great, it was intriguing and it was different.  Every episode saw a different case to be solved by the C.B.I (California Bureau of Investigation) but each case was shadowed by another case – the hunt for Red John.

Here was a mystery – who was Red John? Why was Patrick Jane so involved that he would work for free at the CBI? It was because as we find out in episode one – his wife and child were murdered by Red John.

Jane, as he is usually just called was a conman before the murder of his family and he had upset Red John, the serial killer by using his ‘paranormal’ abilities to profile the serial killer. So Red John sought revenge.

This brought Jane to the CBI as he wanted to help find Red John.  In his quest he worked alongside other agents Theresa Lisbon, Kimball Choi, Wayne Rigsby and Grace Van Pelt. In this job he was ‘using his skills to help solve crimes’.  He often asserted that ‘there’s no such things as physics’ yet he had finely honed skills in cold reading, hypnosis and has a powerful observational skills and a deep insight into the human psyche and behaviour.

The hunt for ‘Red John’ round over 6 seasons.  By season 4 I was getting a little bit tired and just wanted to know who the serial killer was.  After a year’s break and a few other box sets in between I went back to the Mentalist and have now watched seasons 5 and 6 as I still wanted to know who was killing all those people. And when I found out who Red John really was I was actually a wee bit disappointed.  Ah well!

The other storyline that was underlying every episode was the relationship between Jane and Lisbon.  The viewers knew how they both felt but they didn't seem to see it.  None of their fellow team members saw it. 

In Season 6 the CBI was shut down and Lisbon and Jane and Kimball Choi started to work for the FBI.  As soon as Lisbon and Jane arrived at the FBI, their new boss Abbott saw the spark between them, but when talking about it to Choi, it was evident that he still didn't see it and just thought Lisbon and Jane were more like brothers and sisters.

Lisbon meets another FBI agent called Pike and plans to move to Washington DC with him.  It is when faced with the reality that Lisbon is leaving that Jane finally admits to how he feels about her.  He admits that all his game playing and telling of lies was because he was scared to get close to someone else, as those he has loved in the past have been taken away from him.

So Season 6 had a lot going on it and ended on a high. So now I need to watch the seventh and final season to see what happens next and how it all ends up between Lisbon and Jane. 

Movie Review: The Lost Medallion

Recently I watched a movie called ‘The Lost Medallion: The Adventures of Billy Stone’ a 2013 American-Thai adventure fantasy Christian family film.   It starts off with a man, who used to be in foster care, stopped into his former foster home to drop off some donations and gets roped into telling the kids a story.

The story begins in a flashback in which a man holding an item wrapped in cloth is running away from another man.  The man digs a hole by a tree and buries a medallion. The story then flashes back to the present where Billy, an amateur archaeologist is being told to leave an archaeology site by his dad, a proper archaeologist.  

Billy’s dad has spent his life looking for the long lost medallion but amazingly Billy finds it, and while in a dodgy situation makes a spontaneous wish which takes him and his friend Allie back 200 years, where their island is a very different one to the one they live on now.

They are captured and taken to a nearby village where the village king Huko notices the medallion Billy has in his hand and claims that it is his. The people now say Billy is true king as whoever wears the medallion is king of the village.

The story continues, following Allie and Billy who are again being chased by two goons wanting the medallion. They are on the run now, but are not on their own, they are joined by King Huko and Anui, another boy from the village.    Later the group is corned by a river and Allie is captured but Billy agrees to exchange her for the medallion and after the exchange the kids jump over a waterfall to avoid capture.   The kids quarrel among themselves but decide to try and seek help from an old wise man, Faleaka in the mountains.  The wise man tells them that they must complete tasks, and in return he will teach them how to defeat Cobra, the man that they gave the medallion to.

Cobra is still after them because the medallion doesn’t work for him and he wants to know what Billy has that he hasn’t. And it turns out that the medallion will only work with those who have a kind heart, which is why it worked for Billy but not Cobra whose heart is bad.

While the kids are with Faleaka, he gives them some very wise advice.  He tells Allie, who is foster care, “God never makes a mistake, in his eyes you are not an accident”.   Very wise, and spoke to me as well, I was adopted and when I was younger, I felt like a mistake.  But as Faleaka says, “no one is an accident to God, he has a purpose for everything’ and this is backed up by Psalm 139 where he psalmist wrote “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb”.

Faleaka has more wise advice saying,

•  “We all need to trust out hearts to the one who created it”
• “Don’t ever forget God loves you, more than you can ever know”

Wow, aren’t those words amazing. We will never be alone as long as God is with us.

Cobra and his man catch up with Faleaka and the kids and tries to kill them all, at one point an arrow is shot in Billy’s direction but Faleaka pushes him out of the way and takes the arrow himself and dying. In his dying moment, Billy and Faleaka had the following conversation;

Billy: “Why would you die for me?”

Faleaka: “Because a great king once died for me”

So true.  This is the greatest kind of love, giving your life for someone else.

After a lot of running and chasing, the movie ends with Billy getting the medallion back and giving it to Huko, the rightful owner. Huko then activates the medallion to send Billy and Allie back to the present day where they end up back in Billy’s house. 

Back in the real world, the movie ends with Daniel, the storyteller, expressing the story’s message of God’s love and you can tell the story has moved and affected the foster kids. 

Movie Review: Grace Unplugged

A couple of weeks ago I was having a bad night so decided to watch a movie and happened upon once called Grace Unplugged, which sounded interesting and upbeat so decided to watch it.

This movie is about an 18 year old girl who rejects her father’s desire for her to be a church singer and decided to go to Hollywood seeking stardom.

Grace’s dad, Johnnie Trey, Is a former rockstar who dabbled in drinks and drugs, the whole rock and roll lifestyle.  But then he became a Christian and gave it up to become worship leader in his church.  

He sings and plays guitar in the worship band alongside Grace every Sunday and he enjoys these times but Grace doesn't. And Johnnie gets frustrated with Grace when she uses the worship times to act like a rockstar instead of a worship leader.

Johnnie and Grace fight about this and her wanting more than leading worship.  He tells her ‘it’s all about God, not you. He’s what’s important’.

Johnnie’s former manager comes down to visit in order to try and persuade Johnnie to do a comeback tour on the back of his ‘one hit wonder’ song ‘Misunderstood’ being made popular by Australian American Idol!!

Johnnie declines the offer, saying he is happy with the life he has at the moment, and doesn't want to go back to that lifestyle. This makes his former manager Mossy unhappy and angers Grace as well because she wants that lifestyle.

Grace then decides to record the song herself and sends it to Mossy who contacts her offering her a deal to go Sapphire Studios where he works, to record and release the song, and starting off her pop career!

Grace jumps at the chance and leave home not saying anything to her parents, just leaving them a note and causes heartache in her departure.

Grave records the song, is given a flat to herself and a new care alongside her new found fame.  She even gets a date with an up and coming filmstar who she naively thinks really likes her and isn't just taking her out for the sex or the publicity.  One night she overhears the filmstar talking on the phone admitting ‘he was told to do it by his management and tonight was the night he would seal the deal’!!! At this, Grace runs away upset.  

In the middle of all this Grace is doing photo shoots and being put into clothes and make-up to make her ‘look sexy’ and she has also started drinking.  These are a few of the things her parents would be upset with her getting involved in.  Grace is increasingly getting unhappy herself which is made worse by the fact she lied and said she was able to write songs when really she had never written a song in her life.  This lie comes out in front of her bosses, her stylist and the board of Sapphire Studios when she tries to sing a self-written song and makes an idiot of herself. 

After this session Grace overhears her stylist saying she is useless and just trying to get famous on the back of her dad’s coattails!  Again Grace is upset at this news and feels lost because she has made enemies within her ‘troop’ and her manager tells her to stop being a spoiled brat like her Dad was in his singing days!

Grace runs out of the building in a huff and on her way out she runs into Quentin, an intern at the company who is also a Christian and has told her he has been praying for her, but she rejects this.  Previously Quentin has asked Grace to come to dinner with him and his parents, after initially refusing, Grace decides to go to dinner with them and enjoys her time in their family.

Through being with Quentin’s family and hearing how her dad helped Quentin become a Christian during one of his church concerts, Grace realises there is more to life than being a rockstar, especially when its making her unhappy.

Grace decides to go home and turns up at her church, apologies to everyone.  After singing a song to them about how much her family and church family mean to her she has a happy but teary reunion with her parents and everyone else.  All is ok now between Dad and daughter.  And Grace now realises that God is more important than her dreams, and she needs to live a life that pleases him.

The movie ends with Grace about to go on stage, so she has realised her dream, she is opening up for Chris Tomlin and has been signed to Sapphire Studios again.  She is not singing on her own though, she has a band, ‘The Grace Trey band’ which her dad is also a part of. 

Grace is now also engaged to Quentin who is also the band’s manager on behalf of his employers, Sapphire Studios.  A happy ending.

It was an uplifting movie.  The music and the movie spoke to me and brought home what I should know already but always need to be reminded of, “We can’t do things on our own, and we need God in our lives to help us”. So true. 

Flash Fiction: The Plastic Bottle

Writing Challenge - Consider the life of a plastic bottle and write some aspect of it

It’s a hard old life, you know. I spend most of it sitting on a shelf watching people go by, wondering it will be my time soon.  One day just mixes into another, one person after another.  I wonder what’s wrong with me, do they not like me? Maybe my type just doesn't agree with them.  I have no idea.

But then one day someone come, they look at me.  And I am like yeah, it’s my time. I am going to leave the shelf once and for all.  I get picked up, yes, I am finally off the shelf, but still keep wondering if I will be put back on again or not.

I don’t get put back down, instead I get carried to the counter and money passes between my saviour and the cashier.  Then it’s out into the fresh air and sunshine that we go.  Freedom at last.  But, oh what’s happening to me now?  I am being shaken, then my top gets taken off – ah I am exposed.

Now I am being tilted and all that is inside me is being taken away from me.  I am empty.  I have lost my purpose.  What will happen to me now?   Is this the end for me? 

My top goes back on, I am not exposed anymore. But I am still empty.  Suddenly I feel myself flying through the air and I land with a big thump into a big circular tub.  Is this what humans call a bin?  Is this what the end feels like?

Suppose that’s the life of a plastic bottle for you!!

Review: Breaking Bad Part 2

After about two months of going on a ‘hiatus’ from ‘Breaking Bad’ and watching other box-sets, I decided to finally get back to it.  I am determined to finish the series. I am now on Season Four, the penultimate one.

In Season Three I was beginning to go off the series due to the lack of nice or interesting characters, and also some of the episodes were really boring and there was no point to them. 

I found all the characters annoying and Walt was really getting n my nerves, he had turned really bad and nasty. 

No after a break I am actually finding the series interesting again.  I still can’t stand Skylar or Walt. They are still horrible people with no morals at all. Not that many of the people in this series have morals!

I liked Jesse in the first couple of seasons but he was going down a strange path in Season Three. Gus (the evil man in charge of the drugs trade and owner of Los Pollos Hermanos, the fast food chicken restaurant) has now taken Jesse under his wing and he is beginning to be a strong character now. And Walt is the weaker of the two now.

This is quite strange, but I am actually warming to Gus! He may be a twisted and mean individual but his story is beginning to flesh out and we are being shown more about him, where he came from and how he came to be a successful businessman. We also find out how he came involved in the drugs market and the involvement of the ‘cartel’.

There is more Spanish being spoken in Season Four.  On Netflix there are no automatic subtitles for when the Spanish is being spoken, so I am enjoying working what is being said.  However, I occasionally have to put the subtitles on to understand some of the dialogue as they speak fast.

I am now interested in seeing how the series finishes.  Want to see what happens to Walt? Does he get found out? At the minute, it seems like his brother in law Hank is starting to get close to the truth of who ‘Heisenberg’ is and who is making all the blue meth being sold on the streets.

All very interesting, one more Season to go. 

Review: Sons of Anarchy

For the past couple of months I have been watching Sons of Anarchy – I have just finished Season 6.  Eagerly awaiting Season 7 to come onto Netflix for free, but might be waiting a while.

Each season only has 13 episodes and during most of the time I was watching this series, I was not very well so was spending a lot of time on sofa resting and watching TV.

My sister suggested I watch Sons of Anarchy and has she had good taste in TV shows I decided to give it a god. She warned me it was a bit violent, and it’s true, it is violent, though I found that as seasons went on the violence got less and less, with more time being spent on characters and relationships between characters.

Sons of Anarchy is based in a small town in America called Charming and revolves around Jax Teller, the Vice President of SAMCRO – the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redmond Originals.  Jax is beginning to struggle being part of the club and the violence that goes along with it. 

A few episodes in to the first season, his ex-wife who is also a drug addict gives birth to their son, Abel. Due to his mum’s drug addiction Abel was born with his insides upside down. His life is touch and go for a moment but after a few surgeries Abel survives.

As well as dealing with the birth of his son, there is a relationship blossoming between Jax and his ex-girlfriend Tara, who left Charming when they were 19 but after five years has now come back.  After she left, Jax married Wendy, the mother of his son, but when Jax and Tara get back together Abel is brought up believing Tara is his mother.

The other main characters in Sons of Anarchy are: Gemma Teller –Morrow (Jax’s Mum and Wife of Clay), Clay Morrow (President of SAMCRO and married to Gemma), and Wayne Unser (the Chief of Police). Then there are the other club members Tig (Clay’s Sargent at Arms), Chibs, Opi, Bobby, Juice and Piney. Throughout the season’s new members come and some meet Mr Mayhem and are killed off.

Wayne Unser also loses his job of Police Chief and is replaced by Eli Roosevelt in Season 4.  His relationship with the MC is very different to Unser’s, who used to turn a blind eye to what they were doing.  But with the FBI snooping on the club, things heat up for the club and some of them end up in prison at different times.

It is quite a violent programme at times and too much sex as well, but it is interesting.  The characters are well played with some being very annoying and others drawing you to them.

For me the annoying characters are:

Tara – she just irritates me so much. She is moody and possessive of Jax and later on becomes very possessive of Abel and Jax and Tara’s other son Thomas.  In Season 6 she tries to divorce Jax and run away with the boys as she doesn’t want Gemma, their grandmother anywhere near them.  I think she keeps forgetting that only one of the boys actually belongs to her.

Opi – again he moans and complains all the time, he is never satisfied.  He is Jax’s best friend and meets a very messy end while in prison.

Clay – at the beginning I liked Clay and Gemma, but as the seasons have gone on they both get irritating and grow insignificant when Jax takes the role of President.  Clay loses his position due to his dirty tactics of trying to kill people and actually killing another member of the club. I am surprised he didn’t get killed after this but they kept him alive for their deal with the Irish relating to gun running.  He does end up meeting Mr Mayhem at the end of Season 6.

As mentioned the Sons do business with the Irish (mainly the IRA) and this is another annoying thing about the series – the really bad Irish accents.  The IRA have men stateside and listening to their accents is very excruciating.  The main man of the Irish operation in the states is Jimmy O’Phelan who is played by Titus Welliver.  His accent was so bad I wanted to yell at the television every time he was on, also you couldn’t make out what he was saying and his facial expressions needed looked into as well. Why can’t Americans do good Irish accents?

During Season Three the Sons go to Belfast, with even more bad Irish accents being heard.  There was also bad geography here too. They travel from Larne to Belfast on their motorbikes. They seem to have gone the scenic route, but it’s a weird route as one minute they are going towards the centre of Ballymena, but end up in Carnlough and straight after that they are in the Falls Road in Belfast.  In reality these two are about an hour away from each other in car!

In Season Four a new Irish character is introduced, Galen O’Shay whose accent annoyed me as well. However I found out that the actor who portrays this character is actually from County Kerry in Southern Ireland so his accent should sound real but it just sounds so fake.

I mentioned characters who annoyed me, but there are characters who I liked:

Chibs -  played by Tommy Flannagan (Scottish actor). He is very supportive of Jax and his club mates, must be the Celtic charm! His Scottish accent is lovely too. He just comes across as being warm and sincere. When Jax becomes President of the club he makes Chibs his Sergeant at Arms but then becomes Vice President when Bobby steps down.

Tigs - played by Kim Coates. Tig is a serial womaniser but is also so funny at times with his facial expressions and one line quips. As mentioned before he is Clay’s right hand man, but ends up seeing him for who he really is, a scumbag.   There was one scene in Season Five where I just wanted to cry for him –he is made to sit and watch his daughter Dawn be burnt to death by Damien Pope, a rival of the clubs, he wants to show Tig what is like to suffer after Tig ran down his daughter over a case of mistaken identity. It was awful to watch him suffer like that.

Nero – Gemma is no longer with Clay and she has hooked up with new guy Nero who is played by Jimmy Smits.  I love his character, he is so funny, charming, compassionate and he seems genuine a well. He is from Mexico and has got that Latin American Charm I love.

One thing I do like about Sons of Anarchy is the love and comradery by the Sons.  They are all there for each other, except when someone like Clay commits a crime so big they can’t forgive them and turn against them.

So now have finished Seasons 1-6 and only have Season 7 to watch, but it’s not on Netflix yet so may take a while before I can watch it.  I am wondering if by the end of Season 7 any of the Sons of Anarchy will still be alive, or most of them be dead – in 6 Seasons we have seen the death of 8 SAMCRO members as well as family members! 

Flash Fiction: A Dog Named Bob

Challenge: to write a post that includes the words mailbox, bluejay, plate, syrup and ink.  And must also include a dog named Bob!

Bob, didn't know what to do, he was at a loose end, his doggy swimming lessons had been cancelled, and all his friends were away for walks and he was bored.  He looked around to see if any odd jobs needed to be done, and he saw that the mailbox was getting old and rusty so decided it needed a paint job.

Bob went to the hardware store to buy some paint. He found a beautiful colour called bluejay, which was a bit darker than light blue, and not as dark as dark blue.   Bob bought the paint and went home to paint the mailbox.  It took an hour for this job to be done, he was, as you say, very meticulous.

Well meticulous as Bob was, the real issue for taking so long painting the mailbox was his stomach. In the middle of the hard work he was doing, Bob got hungry and went in for some lunch.  A gorgeous lunch it was too.   He made a huge plate of pancakes, bacon and maple syrup, his favourite meal of all time.  It was so delicious even if he did end up getting syrup everywhere, making his paws all sticky!

After he had finished his lunch and cleaned his paws, Bob went back to painting the mailbox.  However his clean wee paws got dirty again, this time covered in blue paint! When he walked across the grass to inspect his paintwork, the green grass looked as if little bits of the blue sky and fallen down and rested on the ground!.

On inspecting his handiwork, Bob thought he had completed a job well done.  He was still congratulating himself when along came the postman who had a pile of mail for Bob.  Along with all the usual bills in brown envelopes, there was a handwritten letter for Bob too, and it looked strange as the address was written in red ink – a sign of love or a sign of danger!

Normal people don’t usually write postal addresses on with red ink, so Bob wondered who it might be from.  He opened the letter and saw it was from his arch enemy Derek, the bulldog who lived on the next street down from Bob. 

The letter was a call to fight from Derek to Bob, an annual event which happened every year to see who would be the Top Dog of the neighbourhood. Bob thought these fights were a waste of time because for the past five years, the length of time the competition has been running, Bob has won and been named the Top Dog.  But Derek would not give up trying. Bob thought he would go along with the fight again this year, as it was his duty and boy did he love a trier! And he also loved beating Derek and impressing the ladies, especially Derek’s girlfriend Dolly who he knew had a crush on him!!

Life: Remember

After five days of being in deep depression, as spoken about in last blog post, the past few days have been days. The sun shining has helped me, but also I have decided to just live one day at a time and be thankful for every day and remember the happy moments.

I came across the following the other day and it made me smile and realise, that yes this is what we all need to do:

Laugh, even when you feel too sick or too worn out or tired.
Smile, even when you're trying not to cry and the tears are blurring your vision.
Sing, when when people stare at you and tell you yours voice is crappy.
Trust, even when your heart begs you not to.
Twirl, even when your mind makes no sense of what you see.
Frolick, when when you are made fun of.
Kiss, even when others are watching.
Sleep, even when you're afraid of what the dreams might bring.
Run, even when it feels like you can't run any more.

And, always, remember even when the memories pinch your heart.  Because the pain of all your experience is what makes you the person you are now.  And without your experience - you are an empty page, a blank notebook, a missing lyric. 

What makes you brave is your willingness to live through your terrible life and hold your head up high the next day.  So don't live life in fear.  Because you are stronger now, after all the crap has happened, than you ever were back before it started.

So be brave and be strong. 

Flash Fiction: Tell All!

A woman finds out her best friend has written a ‘tell all’ book that brings her darkest secrets to light. Write a confrontation between the two friends?

“I can’t believe you, I trusted you”

“What are you talking about?”

“You wrote a ‘tell all’ book, WHY?”

“I did not. I have nothing to tell”

“Yes you did. I know it was you who wrote this book”

“That’s not mine, that’s not my name on the book”

“I know it was you. You might have used a false name, but I recognise the stories inside. They are about me and about you”

“You cannot prove it was me”

“Yes I can, I recognise the events which are mentioned in the book”

“They could be about anyone”

“But they aren’t, they are about us. I know you wrote the book and I am angry at you”

“Well if it was me, what are you going to do about it? You can’t prove it”

“Maybe I will write my own. Give my version of the events”

“On you go. I dare you”

“Just tell me why you did it? You that desperate for money? And do you have so many friends you can afford to lose one?”

“Oh give up on this. I know it was you. You could have at least made the names less recognisable.  Everyone will know it me”

“Whatever! I am in it too”

“Ah so you admit it was you?”

“Well……..”

“Even so, you make me out to be some pathetic loser whereas your character is painted as some kind of saint, which you are definitely not!”

“Well I don’t care, it all so funny”

“So will you admit it was you yet?”

“Whatever! You can’t prove it”

“Maybe I can, maybe I can’t. Just you wait and see”

“Oh am shivering in my boots”

Life: "Not Good Enough"

I have been struggling of recent with my depression and its not helped at the minute by my having another MS relapse. My first relapse since March, so that's good going, but its not a nice one.  Lack of feeling in right hand side, sight in right eye being blurry, headache, not sleeping, fatigue and general pain.  I have been on the MS medication for two months now  - its not that they aren't working, but they aren't there to stop all relapses, just to stop them being as regular, which is good news.  

Anyway like I said I have been struggling with the depression and am trying to get myself out of the black hole and dismiss the black dog. I have great friends and support but also need to be self reliant and reliant on God. But its amazing when you read things or watch things and they speak to you just when you need them too.

I previously posted a post by Emma Scrivener and today her new blog was posted and it again it like pure gold - this woman is an amazing person, who relies on God's strength and not her own.  Today's post entitled "Not Good Enough - Hurray" really spoke to me.  I have taken her post and made it to fit me, but you can see Emma's post here. 

I have heard myself saying to myself and my friends, but I am trying my best, that’s all that anyone can ask of me isn’t it? I am good enough just as I am.

This sounds liberating doesn’t it? Liberating. Much better than beating yourself up for always falling short. But it’s not quite the gospel is it? And if this is our hope we will probably end up condemning ourselves again. When things go wrong, we’ll mutter: But I’m doing my best…

Problem is, the gospel of ‘doing your best’ was exactly what the medieval church taught, and it ended up enslaving millions.  There are encouragements in there - but it’s built on dodgy ground. The Bible doesn’t say “You mean well, that’s what counts.”

It doesn’t say, “God helps those who help themselves.” Or even, “Give it your best shot…”

God doesn’t love a trier. He loves a quitter – someone who recognises that their best is not enough. Not the woman who gives it her all – the woman who gives her all to Him.

Okay then. But what do I do with my sense of failure? Pretend it’s not there? Even though it is…  When I beat myself up I uphold a kind of truth but there’s no grace.

When I tell myself “my best is good enough” I have some sense of grace but at the expense of truth.

Both of these lead to self-condemnation. But here is the gospel: I’m not good enough. Me, trying my best for goodness sakes, is a big part of the problem. However, I’m forgiven. I’m cleansed. I’m adopted and now, as God’s child I’m sent out again – knowing my weakness but clothed in His strength.

I’m not the daughter / friend / sister / worker / parishioner I want to be.  I am not who my family and friends need me to be and most importantly I am not who God created me to be.  But the best thing is, I AM FORGIVEN. The blood of Jesus purifies me from every sin, every failure, and every shortcoming. This means that I’m free to enter God’s calling on my life – not on the basis of my best but on the basis of Christ’s best

I may not be good enough, but thankfully God is.  And I need to live my life, not by my own understanding or strength but by God’s. Thank God for that as I can’t do life alone, and am not being asked to as God is with me.

Life: Testing Times

The following was not written by me, I am borrowing or stealing or whatever you may call it from another blog called "A New Name". The author of this site is Emma Scrivener and her posts are always very very interesting and insightful, just like the one below:

everyone thinks everyone else knows what they’re doing: they don’t.

whatever it is - recovery, grief, housework, rebuilding relationships - you don’t have to do it all in one go.

it’s possible you will feel completely different in a very short time.

good or bad – you’re not who your parents or the bullies or your exam papers or your ex says.

the bad thing you’re terrified of happening probably won’t happen.  Even if it does, you will be okay.

you are not in control.  This is a good thing.

your problem is not that you’re too fat for your jeans.  Or that your house is untidy.  There are issues; but they’re not these ones. So save your energy for the real fights.

you can change – but it’ll take time and hard work.

gossip magazines are not your friends.

you’re neither fine as you are, nor uniquely terrible. You need saving.  So does everyone.  (That’s why Jesus came).

‘bad’ feelings aren’t really bad. They’re just your feelings (shouting at you).

you’ll never need to deal with more than the next minute.  And this you can do.

nothing looks good at 3am.  Sleep on it. And if you can’t sleep, read something comfy.

happiness is not just a matter of positive thinking.

Jesus gets you, even if you don’t get you.

“The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18)

Flash Fiction: Night after night

It was awful, I woke up sweating and shaking.  It was another night of fitful sleep and going places I never wanted to revisit again.  For the past few months every time I closed my eyes, unwanted images came into my head.  This made it hard for me to go to sleep as I didn't want to experience the feeling of fear any more.

It is the same dream every night, or a better word to describe it might be nightmares.  It felt like Groundhog Day, or to be more specific, Groundhog night.  Every night it starts the same, I am tied up and struggling to get free and I had no idea how I got there or who was responsible for binding my hand together.

I find myself lying beside a rough edged box in a cold dark stone floored room, shivering and scared. However, I manage to lift myself up and get my back towards one of the edges of the box and start to try and saw my way through the rope, in a hope to get free.  It takes time, effort and lots of energy but I manage to do it. I get free.

I throw the rope off and stand up.  I look around me, I am alone in the room.  There is nothing in the room except for the box. However, I spot a door.  I walk towards it, try the handle. It’s open. I walk through the door.

On the other side, I am greeted by a very fierce dog who bears his tea and snarls at me.  I freeze.  I hate dogs.  I am scared of them.  I see no way past the dog.  I panic.  I am closed in, no way out of the room except for the door I walked in, so I went back through to the first room, making sure the door is shut tight so the dog can’t follow me.

Back in the first room, I see another door that wasn't there before. Where it came from, I do not know, but I also notice that the first door I walked through had now disappeared. This was freaky and weird.  I go over to the new door, and walk through it. No dogs this time, in fact the room is empty. I notice that this room as three other doors, one beside each other.  They were different colours, yellow, red and blue and reminded me of the beach huts, found on beaches to let people change into their swimming gear.

I decide to start with the red door. I open the door and enter the room.  Ahhhh this is horrible, my idea of a nightmare, it was full of insects crawling all over the place.  I immediately close the door and retreat back into what I will now call the ‘starter’ room since that’s where it all began.   Again I make sure the door is shut very tight. I don’t want any of the horrible wee insects to escape.  They give me the creeps and make me shudder and itch.

Back in the ‘starter’ room I am starting to find it difficult to breathe, I am panicking as I feel I will never escape.  I decide to try the yellow door this time. I open it.  It seems like I have entered a happy room this time as it is full of all my friends and family, all chatting and laughing with one another. I go up to speak to my Mum but she ignores me, so I try my friend Emma and she ignores me too. This is beginning to irritate me, so I stand up and shout at them all to listen to me, but no one seems to hear me or see me.   All of this hurts me, it makes me sad and feel rejected.  So I leave and go back to the ‘starter’ room.

I stand looking at the doors and think. I have now been in three rooms and they have all contained things that I am scared off – big snarly dogs, insects and rejection.  It suddenly begins to dawn on me, this nightmare, is a nightmare of my fears.  I had now encountered three of my fears, well actually four of them. The first fear was that of being tied up and not being able to move.

Now I wonder what the blue door will contain.  I don’t want to open the door, but I need to get out of this place. The ‘starter’ room is now beginning to close in on me and make me feel claustrophobic, which actually is another fear of mine.  That is now five fears that had forced themselves upon me.

Now am even more scared of opening the blue door,  as I have no idea what is lurking behind there to greet me.  However, am searching my brain and I can’t think of any more fears which I may have, either rational fears or irrational fears. But I may be wrong!

I gingerly walk over to the blue door, praying it is a way out and nothing nasty is behind it.  I cautiously open the door, it flies open and I am greeted by fire.  I realise I have opened the door to hell. I move to go back through the door, but instead I find myself falling into the fire and I scream and scream and scream. Then I wake up. I am scared, shaking and sweating. 

During the night I have come face to face with all my fears and conquered none of them.  Every night, the same thing, the same fears. When will it ever stop?

My screaming has woken up my husband who looks at me with concern. He asks me if I am OK, I look at him crying and say “Simon, could you empty the dream-catcher, it’s full of nightmares again”

Writing prompt - to include the lines "Simon, could you empty the dream-catcher, its full of nightmares again" into the story. 

Writing: Six Word Story

In my last post I spoke about different prompts available on Twitter to help get ideas to write.
Another one of these is Six Word Story where you have to write a story in six words about a topic they give you.  It is harder than it seems. The idea behind this is Ernest Hemingway's famous six word story "For sale: baby shoes, never worn"

Here are some of my attempts:

Write a story about an unfortunate haircut

“Mum used a bowl, absolutely horrific”

Write a story about a deceased ancestor

“She is deceased, I am rich”

Write a story about something unexpected seen through a pair of binoculars

“Oh my goodness, my eyes hurt!”

Write a story about an act of reconciliation

“They shook hands, reunited, now peace!”

Writing: Ten Word Journal

On Twitter there are lots of different writing prompt accounts to follow to get ideas etc on what to write, either for a story or a poem.

One of these prompts is called TenWordJounnal. They give you a word prompt, and the idea is to write a ten word story around that word. I have been doing some of these, they are challenging to do and a good way to keep the brain ticking.

Here are some of my attempts at this:

Signs

“The signs are there, your eyes are blind to them”

Questions and/or Answers

“Asking too many questions

But not enough answers

Are forthcoming”

Give a little, take a little

“Give a little, take a little – This phrase resembles you”

One-eyed Jack

“One eyed Jack, add more and there’s two-eyed Jack”

Tenacity

“What I love about you?

Your tenacity,

Never give up”

Double Standards

“What I hate about you?

You have double standards,

Untrustworthy”

Guitar

“If you were a guitar, I’d pluck your strings every-day!”

Pawns

“We are all pawns, in the big game of life”

Reasons

“10,000 reasons to love

10,000 excuses not to,

Pick One”

Succumb

What one shall I succumb to?

Galaxy or Diary Milk?