July WriMo

Chapter 5, Finding Mom

2008-07-07T19:31:00.000-07:00

Chapter 5
Finding Mom

Sarah, Uncle Mike and Smush traveled for about a half an hour before they reached the hospital. After another 15 minutes of driving through a multi story parking structure they finally exited the van and headed inside. Sarah was a bit frightened by the size of the place even though she had been here before when Mom brought her for a tour of the area where babies were born. She hadn't really been paying attention because she didn't want the babies anyway. Why should she care where they came from.

Uncle Mike headed for a a wall where the elevators were and when the doors opened, he gently nudged Sarah in. As soon as she looked up from where her feet were taking her, Sarah realized that the elevators were all glass. She could see for blocks around as the glass box rose higher into the sky. Before too long the bell chimed and the doors opened again and she walked out into a lobby bedecked with baby decorations. Everything was in pastel paint and had rattles, bows, baby bottles and teddy bears. Remarkably similar to the decorations that now occupied the room that used to be hers back at home.

Uncle Mike stopped at a desk where nurses had clothes with cartoon characters on them and asked for Aunt Belle. The guy wearing the mouse on his shirt excused himself and disappeared down a hallway. Uncle mike led Sarah to a chair and sat down next to her, leaving the once again sleeping Smush in the seat on the floor. He looked at her and smiled nervously, she smiled back.

After a few minutes Aunt Bell came out of a door next to the desk. She exchanged a quick kiss and hug with Uncle Mike and then she sat down to take care of Smush. Uncle mike offered Sarah his hand and when she took it he headed for the door that Aunt Belle had just come out of. After a loud buzzing noise, he pulled the door open and led Sarah through.

They walked past 6 doors, Sarah counted so she could remember which one was the door they had just passed through. At the end of the wide, white hallway they walked into a room. There was Mom, looking very tired but happy to see Sarah.

"MOM!!!" Sarah said racing for the bed but Uncle mike snagged her arm before she got very far.

"You have to be careful, your Mom is tired and jumping on her might hurt her" he said

Sarah looked at her mom as she nodded. then slowly walked forward to the side of the bed where Mom reached for her hand then pulled Sarah up on the bed to sit next to her. Mom wrapped her arm around Sarah and hugged gently. Sarah noticed that her Moms belly was almost back to normal again. this was a good thing, it was the first sign that things would return to normal at home.

"Did you think about names for the babies?" her mother asked

"Yes!" she stated as she pulled the list out of her purse and handed it over.

Mom looked it over, raising an eyebrow here, chuckling there. eventually she sighed and handed the list back to Sarah.

"I think I see two very good names on that list, What about Beatrice and Baxter? I really like those names. You did a very good job choosing names for your new brother and sister."

Sarah looked absolutely shocked. Had her mom actually LIKED the names she had chosen? This was wrong, very very wrong. Mom was supposed to hate the names but choose two anyway. What happened to her plan?

"You Like them? Why? They were all STUPID names and you were supposed to hate them. You were supposed to hate them so much you didn't want to keep the babies with those names!" Sarah blurted out.

Mom smiled, looked at Uncle Mike with a grin and asked him if the "girls" could have a few minutes together. She let him know which way the nursery was and sent him out of the room. Then she looked right at Sarah, Hugged her again and asked her to explain whet was just said.

Sarah told Mom that she didn't like babies because they were yucky, loud and just wrong. She didn't like Smush and she wouldn't like her new brother and sister either and she was never having babies of her own EVER. then she crossed her arms across her chest and huffed.

Mom tried not to laugh, but couldn't keep it in this time. Sarah was now very confused on top of everything else. She was sure that Mom would have been very mad about her not wanting the babies, or about choosing the stupid names but Mom was laughing. What was wrong with her?

Mom hugged Sarah even tighter and looked her right in the eyes. "Sarah, were keeping the babies no matter what. But there not all bad, you will see that it may be a bit rough at first but eventually having a younger brother and sister will be fun. At first they will pretty much eat, sleep and cry. then they will start eating more, sleeping less and crying less. Eventually they will start learning to play with you and talk with you and you will be a big sister and can help them learn new things."

Sarah was not convinced in the slightest, until Mom reminded her that she was a baby once also. Sarah couldn't remember back that far but figured she remembered enough birthdays to not always have been 10 years old. She snuggled into her Mom and thought about when she would be coming home again.

Mom broke into her daydreams of movie nights and trips to the zoo and asked Sarah if she was ready to meet her new family. Sarah gave Mom a blank look. She wasn't sure HOW to answer that question. she DID want to see the new babies but only to see how horrible they were. She was sure they would be awful.

Mom saw the look on her face, tilted head to one side and kissed Sarah's forehead. She then picked up the phone, dialed a few numbers and told someone that they were ready to meet the rest of the family. A few minutes later Uncle mike pushed a small cart with a plastic tote on top through the door. He was followed by the guy in the mouse shirt pushing an identical cart. Both where wheeled up next to Moms bed and the nurse exited making sure that Mom had everything she needed. He winked at Sarah on his way out the door.

Sarah looked into the bins, there were small tightly wrapped bundles of blankets in them. Suddenly one of the bundles made a squeaky grunting sound. Uncle Mike carefully picked up the bundle and handed it to Mom who cradled it in her arms. Sarah looked closely and saw a tiny round face with big blue eyes just like hers staring back at her. Then the gurgling sound again and the quietest of cries and then the face scrunched up and grunted again.

"Mom? whats it doing?"

"Well Sarah, it looks like your brother Baxter is hungry, would you like to help feed him?"

"NO" Sarah practically shouted at her mother, startling the baby and making it start wailing in the softest of cries she had ever heard. Sarah felt bad for some reason about scaring the small baby. She reached out her hand and ever so gently patted the bundle somewhere in the middle where she figured its tummy would be. The baby quieted slightly.

"See Babies aren't so bad are they? Baxter seems to like you already" whispered Mom

"Does he really like me" Sarah asked

"Well Babies will let you know if they Don't like you by crying more. If they do like you they will calm down when you pay attention to them. You surprised Baxter but then you used a careful touch to let him know you didn't mean it. He accepted that touch and calmed down again. Are you sure you don't want to help me feed him?"

Sarah Shrugged "OK I guess, but I don't know how?"

Mom resettled Sarah next to her and carefully showed Sarah how to hold the tiny baby. Once Baxter was settled carefully on Sarah's lap, she was handed a tiny baby bottle just like on that would be used for a doll. Mom showed her how to hold it so that the baby could suck on the nipple and Sarah did her best to make sure she held it just right. She watched the baby eat, listening to it slurp and snort a bit as it drank. Soon enough the bottle was empty and Mom took Baxter back into her own hands, holding him slightly upright over her had, she asked Sarah to rub his back a bit. A few moments later the baby let out a burp bigger than he was.

Uncle Mike laughed and cheered the baby on. Then he carefully picked up the other baby from the second bin and brought it towards the two girls sitting on the bed. He carefully handed the tiny baby over and took Baxter returning to the chair in the corner of the room to coo at the now satisfied newborn. Sarah looked at the baby and blinked a few times. This face was different, she looked a lot like Mom, not as much like Sarah. As she watched, the baby opened its eyes and seemed to look right at Sarah.

"Mom is this Beatrice? Why doesn't she look like Baxter? Are they really twins?" she blurted out in one breath.

Mom replied with a soft smile "Yes, this would be Beatrice. She does not look like Baxter because she isn't Baxter. Every baby looks the way they do when there born no matter who they are. Yes they are twins. Not all twins look alike, sometimes they are just born at the same time from the same mom." She paused "would you like to feed Beatrice as well?"

"No" said Sarah slipping carefully off of the bed and heading to another chair by the window. She watched mom feed and burp Beatrice. Sarah giggled when her new sisters burp was even louder than her brothers had been.

Mom was looking very tired by now and as she handed Beatrice to Uncle Mike she asked Sarah for another hug. After a warm embrace, Uncle mike asked Sarah if she would like to push one of the carts back to the nursery so her mother could rest some more.

As she followed, pushing the cart with Baxter in it, Uncle Mike explained to her that Mom would be spending at least two more days in the hospital with the babies, then everyone would come home. as they walked past a set of large windows Sarah stopped and looked. there were about 15 babies in a small room where anyone could see them. Uncle Mike called her name and she followed him through another door that buzzed before it opened, right into the room with all of the babies. A nurse smiled at her, asked her how she liked her new brother and sister and then wheeled Baxter's cart across the room to the opposite wall and placed it next to Beatrice.

Both babies were sleeping now and Uncle Mike commented on how peaceful the twins looked. Sarah thought that the proper way to describe them was "currently harmless" more than anything else. The two of them passed out the door to the waiting area and met Aunt Belle and Smush for the long ride home, without Mom.

Chapter 4, The Artist Within

2008-07-05T14:23:00.001-07:00

Chapter 4
The Artist Within

Sarah wandered into her small bedroom at the bottom of the stairs to change out of her nightgown and find clothes for the day. Mom always set out 2 outfits for her to choose from and set them on top of hr dresser. She was supposed to choose her own socks and panties and then put on one of the outfits. This morning there were no outfits on her dresser. Just a further reminder of her Mom not being where she was supposed to be.

Sarah looked at her dresser, opened a few drawers then selected a pink shirt. Next she opened a different drawer and chose a pair of oranges pants. Laying both on top of her dresser she then looked into her closet she found a long dress. This did NOT look like the types of outfits her Mom would have picked out. Sarah wondered if Uncle Mike might be able to help her.

She peeked out of her room, heard the TV on in the living room and quietly walked to the doorway and peeked in. Uncle mike was sitting in a chair, typing on his laptop and watching the news on the small tv in the corner.

"Uncle Mike?"

"Is there something you need Sarah?" he said, taking off his glasses and setting them on the coffee table.

"I don't know what to wear, Mom didn't give me any choices today."

Uncle Mike sighed "would you like some help choosing some clothes? "

"Yes please" Sarah said bashfully turning back towards her bedroom to wait for Uncle Mike to follow her.

After taking a look at the choices on the dresser and trying not to laugh, he reached into the closet and chose a casual looking sun-dress with a ribbon bow on the front and various pastel colors in polka dots all over it. Next he looked in her dresser for an outfit that might be easier to play in. he found a pair of denim shorts with lace on the pockets and a red tank top with strawberries printed on it. He then places both outfits on her bed and put away Sarah's choices while asking her if those were more what she was looking for.

Looking over the choices, Sarah nodded her approval and waited for Uncle mike to leave the room.

From upstairs "Smush" started fussing, Sarah knew this would mean she would be alone for awhile and that was fine with her. She thought about her plans for the day, playing wasn't part of them so she chose the dress. Finding some panties and a pair of socks with similar colors on them she dressed and put the second outfit away like she did every morning.

Normally Sarah would be watching cartoons on a Saturday morning. Thinking about sharing a room with Smush made her want to avoid any space the baby might be in. She decided to draw for awhile instead. Finding her art supplies she sat at the small desk in her room and went about choosing her materials. Finding a piece of paper and her colored pencils she started drawing a baby, well what she thought looked like a baby. It had a red face, egg shaped body and had stuff leaking out of its nose and mouth. It had a dark cloud behind it and looked generally unpleasant in every sense of the word. Satisfied that she had made her point Sarah then started drawing flowers. Each piece of paper she chose was filled with a different color flower. most looked like daisies or tulips because that was all that she knew how to draw but the sizes and colors were infinitely varied. each piece of art then made its way to a spot on her wall until it looked like Sarah had created her own wallpaper.

She heard Uncle Mike wandering around in the kitchen again and wondered what time it was. Looking at her clock Sarah realized that half the day had gone by and Mom still hadn't called her. what could be taking so long? Surely babies really didn't take THAT long to be born? Why wasn't her mom calling?

She hadn't heard Uncle Mike peek his head into her room and jumped when he announced that lunch was ready. Sarah scowled at him again. He really had no CLUE how Mom did things around here and the sooner that Mom came home, the sooner things would return to normal. She put her art supplies away on her shelf, taped her last picture to the wall and headed into the kitchen to see what had been prepared for lunch. She really hoped it wasn't soup, Sarah HATED soup almost as much as she hated babies.

Settling herself at the table she noticed a yummy smell coming from by the stove. She saw her silverware and her glass but no plate by her place at the table. At the other end of the table was Smush, sitting in a high chair and trying to grab hold of a toy that was attached to the tray withing reach, that is if the baby knew HOW to reach and grab. At the moment, the poor thing just batted at it and then looked startled when the toy moved. Sarah tried not to laugh at how stupid it was that a person, even Smush, couldn't just grab a toy and play with it.

Uncle mike set her plate and a bowl in front of her. She studied it and looked at him with surprise. It was her favorite lunch! How had he known. She had a bowl of Macaroni and cheese, some salad with grape tomatoes and a small cup of ranch salad dressing and a hot dog cut to look like an octopus.

"Thank you Uncle Mike!" she blurted out seconds before the first bite hit her mouth.

"Your very welcome sweety, you looked like you could use some cheering up today. I know how confused you must be right now without Mom here. how about after lunch I call Aunt Bell and see how things are going? would that make you feel a bit better?"

Sarah Nodded while chewing a tomato.

Uncle Mike Made up a plate for himself and a bowl of something orange for Smush and sat at the table with her. They ate lunch in relative silence. Sarah busied herself with eating, Smush was busy trying not to let the spoon full of food get where it needed too and Uncle Mike snagged a bit of food for himself in between making airplane noises for the baby. when she was scraping the last of her noodles out of her bowl, the telephone rang.

"MOM!"

Uncle Mike jumped up, grabbed the phone off the wall and answered it. "Hello?......Yes........thats fantastic!.........I will let her know............What time?.........OK we'll be there!" Hanging up the phone he looked at Sarah.

"Well, it seems that you have a new brother and a new sister! You Mom is resting right now but in a few hours we can go to the hospital and see her and the babies. Your Mom did want you to do something for her though,"

At this comment, Sarah perked up, her Mom didn't forget about her after all.

"Your Mom wants you to think about names for your brother and sister, she wants you to help pick them out."

Sarah face fell, she didn't want to KEEP the babies, why would she want to help pick names for them. She would just have to pick the stupidest names that she could possibly think of for the babies, then her Mom wouldn't WANT to keep them. She finished her last bite, carried her dishes to the sink and headed back to her room to start a list of names.

She had finally figured out how to make sure the babies did not stay with her and her Mom. The names were the critical part. She started looking at her books, trying to find the worst names she possibly could. She started making a list, not separating the names into boys or girls but just making a list.

Fudge
Baxter
Beatrice
Neelix
Totoro
Pikachu
Dumbo
Sam I Am
Neemo
Hermione
Trucker
Scout
Amaranth
Pucky
George

When Sarah thought she had enough names she folded the paper carefully, found one of her small purses and stuffed it inside so she could take it to her mother later. She knew her mother would choose 2 of these names for her babies and would surely think that names as bad as these would make them not worth keeping at all.

She busied herself with tidying up her room so her Mom would be proud of her when she came home. Sarah even retrieved her pillow and blanket from the bathtub and remade her bed like Mom had shown her to do. She then went back into the bathroom, brushed her hair and teeth then washed her face. She found a pink bow that didn't clash with her dress and tied her hair back into a ponytail. She was ready to go see Mom.

Sarah made her way into the living room just as Uncle Mike was strapping Smush into a car seat carrier.

"I was just going to let you know its time to go see Mom" Uncle Mike said

Sarah smiled and bounced on her heels a bit, she had her purse hanging off of her shoulder and her favorite teddy bear in her arms to give to her Mom.

Uncle Mike opened the front door, grabbed the car seat and diaper bag and headed for his van sitting in front of her house. After buckling Smush in place he made sure Sarah was secured as well. Climbing into the drivers seat he said "I think you are going to have so much fun with your new brother and sister, I am sure you picked some pretty awesome names for them."

Sarah smiled and nodded knowing that HER plan was flawless. Uncle mike was none the wiser as they pulled away and headed for the Hospital.

Chapter 3, Pancakes in the Morning

2008-07-04T14:05:00.001-07:00

Chapter 3
Pancakes in the Morning

Sarah woke up in the bathtub. She had a pillow under her head, her teddy bear under her arm and a blanket covering her. She didn't think about how, she knew that what she remembered of the night before must have been just an extension of her nightmare. Mom had snuggled her in, made sure she was comfortable and taken care of her. Only Mom would have done these things, that must mean Mom was still here, not Aunt Belle.

Pancakes. It smelled like pancakes, With Blueberries. Sarah crawled out of the bathtub, used the toilet, brushed her hair and teeth and then headed for the kitchen. She didn't notice that the bathroom door was unlocked, she wouldn't have noticed something like that.

Her place at the breakfast table was set just like it was every morning, her pink plate, purple cup and napkin folded into a triangle. She took her place just as a short stack of 3 pancakes was placed in front of her. she reached for the syrup, started to pour and looked up to say "good morning" to her mother and froze.

She was looking right into the blotchy face of Smush who was suspended from Uncle Mikes shoulders in a carrier. The baby was smiling, gurgling, drooling and flailing its arms gleefully. Sarah was mortified. Where was Mom? Why was Uncle Mike making her pancakes and why was that THING still in her house?

"Where is Mom?" she asked

Uncle Mike smiled, poured her some juice and said "She is still at the hospital having the babies. Aunt Belle went to be with her for awhile."

Sarah stopped to think as much as her young mind could. The dream wasn't a nightmare, it WAS real. Her Mom wasn't home and her Mom hadn't made her pancakes. Her Mom was going through with the "baby" think anyway. It wasn't fair, she NEEDED her Mom.

"Why is it taking so long?" she asked

Uncle Mike sighed "babies come in there own time, you can't hurry them. You Mom is doing well and she promised she would call as soon as she could. Don't worry, everything will be fine and soon you will get to meet your new family! isn't that exciting?"

"No, I don't like it, I want Mom. I don't like Smush, I don't like you, I don't like babies I don't like any of it!" she said then gave him a withering look causing him to raise an eyebrow before he turned back to the kitchen.

Sarah poked at her breakfast before finally tasting it. The pancakes weren't like the ones her Mom made but they weren't bad. She ate what she was given and then cautiously walked into the kitchen, plate in hand.

"I'm still hungry." she stated as coldly as possible.

"Would you like some more pancakes? I also have some sausages, would you like a few of those as well?"

Sarah nodded holding out her plate as Uncle Mike placed 4 pancakes, 3 sausages and a blob of whipped cream on top.

Seeing the special topping Sarah smiled "Thanks!"

She returned to the table as Uncle Mike left the kitchen for awhile, returning without Smush who it seems, had fallen asleep again. He started cleaning up from the breakfast preparations. He packed the extra pancakes into some plastic bags and tucked them away into the freezer. Next he packed up the Sausages into a container and found space for them in the fridge along with the butter, milk and syrup. He looked up at Sarah periodically as she ate.

"Are there any questions you want to ask me? You look like your thinking very hard about something." Uncle Mike said while he loaded the dishwasher.

Sarah DID have questions but she didn't know who to ask. Uncle mike was giving her an opportunity she wanted to take it.

"How do babies come out? do people explode like on TV? How to they get put back together?"

Uncle mike stopped in mid reach. "ummmmm"

Sarah knew he wouldn't tell her, no one ever had wanted to tell her.

"Well, womens bodies are made for having babies. there is a space inside of a mommy that can stretch so that a baby can grow inside" he stated.

Sarah looked a bit surprised. Stopping with her fork in mid air between her plate and mouth. He was actually talking about it. More than anyone had said before.

Uncle Mike continued "When a woman has a baby that is grown inside of her, her body starts to get ready to get that baby out." He paused, studying Sarah's reaction. She still hadn't finished her bite of food but sat there, listening. "there is an opening..........ummmm......a place for the baby to come out.......ummmmm"

Sarah could tell that Uncle Mike was having trouble trying to explain things. Laying down her fork she asked "Does it come out of your belly button? Why do BOYS have Belly Buttons?"

Uncle Mike wasn't sure how to react to that question. "wow, ahhh no it does not come out of your belly button. Lets just say that when you grow up, there will be a place on you where a baby can come out safely. a woman does not "explode" and does not have to be "put back together".

"I'm NEVER going to have babies, I HATE them, there awful and disgusting" Sarah stated then started shoveling breakfast into her mouth again.

Uncle Mike sighed and finished cleaning up the breakfast dishes. once Sarah had cleaned her plate he sent her off to her room to get dressed for the day. He wondered how much the girl understood and how much she just didn't want too. Rinsing her plate and cup he added them to the dishwasher, dispensed soap and started the machine. Walking back through the house he hear her telling her toys all about how her Mom wasn't going to explode and that she would be home soon and everything would be normal again.

Mike knew then that this child had a big surprise ahead of her. He only hoped that somehow he would be able to help so that her mother didn't get the brunt of the backlash. The shock would ripple through the whole family and he could see it coming. No amount of military training could prepare anyone for the storm that was to come.

Chapter 2, the Alien Invasion

2008-07-02T17:30:00.000-07:00

Chapter 2
The Alien Invasion

Sarah woke up hearing her mom talking quietly on the phone in her room upstairs. Mom sounded a little bit frightened. Sarah couldn't imagine why. Mom wasn't frightened when the really bad storm had knocked the tree down in the neighbors yard. Mom hadn't been frightened when her car got hit by the dump truck last summer. Mom hadn't been frightened when the big spider had walked across her hand when they were camping last spring. Right now, Mom sounded frightened.

Sarah did not understand and it scared her so she shouted for Mom. Far be it for her to actually go to her mother when Mom was there for Sarah's well being and not the reverse. She heard Mom say her goodbyes into the phone and start walking down the stairs to Sarah's room. Mom paused 2 times before she got to her daughters room and again as she stood in the doorway.

"MOM"

"Yes dear?" said Mom, looking like she was trying not to grimace.

"Why are you scared?" asked Sarah

"I am not scared BabyGirl, But I am glad you are awake. There is something I want to tell you" said her mother in a very quiet voice.

"Is it about your tummy?" asked Sarah

Mom replied with a tired looking smile "Well, Yes it is. It is time for the Babies to be born. Aunt Belle is on her way over here with Uncle Mike to help us out. You should be excited! This will make our family so much more exciting."

Sarah Doubted that "exciting" was what her Mother had meant.

"Mom? Why do Aunt Bell and Uncle Mike have to be here? Are they bringing Smush?" Sarah whined.

Sarah's mother chuckled over the name that had been chosen for the new cousin, She had wondered why, but Sarah had deftly avoided the answer every time she had been asked.

Mom paused, took a few deep breaths and said "Your aunt and uncle will stay here with you while I am away for a few days. I have to go to the Hospital to have the babies so that they we are safe. Aunt Belle will take care of you and yes, "Smush" will be here too. You can help Aunt Belle during feedings and diaper changes if you would like."

Sarah wrinkled her nose, The idea of helping with that...thing when it did ANYTHING was just gross. NEVER would she EVER help with diapers or feedings. She would never even have babies of her own so that she could ALWAYS avoid the possibility. Sarah knew that babies were nothing but trouble first you get huge and fat and cant move, then the baby is on the outside and just makes messes ALL the time. Since Sarah was the most important thing in her own mind, there would NEVER be babies in her world. Not ever.

Mom leaned in and hugged Sarah holding her close enough that Sarah felt moms belly move. it felt like it would get hard for a few moments then soften again. every now and then a small bump would slide across the surface. It was weird, like the aliens on TV that Mom didn't want her watching.

Sarah had just started dozing off in her mothers arms when she heard the front door opening with its familiar squeak. She clung tighter to Mom but felt herself being tucked gently back into her bed. Sarah barely heard her mom greet Aunt belle before she drifted off again.

Sarah dreamed of an army of babies, oozing and drooling and screaming. Nothing made them seem like a good thing. Slowly her bad dream turned into a nightmare as the babies changed into strange creatures with big eyes and toothy sneers that grew out of peoples chests like plants. Sarah woke up screaming for her Mom, Only Aunt Belle was there for her and she had Smush in her arms. Sarah ran to the bathroom, locked the door behind her and sat in the bathtub and cried.

It was going to be a long few days. For the first time in her life, Mom was not there for her. Not only was she feeling alone, but she also had to deal with not being the star of her own show. This was unacceptable on all counts.

Chapter 1, The ONLY Child

2008-07-02T15:56:00.000-07:00

Sibling Rivalry
Written by Elizabeth Kay

Chapter 1
The ONLY child.

Sarah had been an only child.

Had been.

She had been the apple of her Daddy's eye until he had disappeared when she was six. She KNEW he still loved her and could think of a myriad of reasons that he had been unable to come back. Reasons such as he had been kidnapped by Pirates, Stranded on a dessert island or lost in a peruvian jungle. Never did she ever think that it was because he didn't WANT to be with her. The word "divorce" was meaningless in her mind.

She had been her mothers "baby girl" for her entire life. She was special, Mommy's little girl. She shared secrets with Mom, went on weekend vacations with Mom and went out for ice cream on the first and last days of school every year with Mom. She didn't have to share her life with anyone. Sarah liked it that way.

Then her mom did it, she got pregnant again. Sarah was 10 when it happened.

Suddenly, Sarah was going shopping with mom, not for trendy new clothes for her, but for tiny outfits, baby items and decorations in pastels with nursery rhymes on them. This sucked! Sarah didn't want to share anything or anyone in her life with anyone else.

The worst part was that Sarah was moving into the smaller bedroom downstairs. This small new life that she wanted NOTHING to do with, was removing her from HER world, her space, her ROOM just because it was across the hall from where her mom slept. It wasn't fair, it was rude and she hated this new creature, who wasn't even born yet.

Mom did her best to explain the situation, even Aunt Belle tried to show Sarah what a gift a new baby was by bringing her new cousin to visit for a few days. All Sarah could see was a loud, smelly, annoying bundle that everyone wanted to see but her. It didn't DO anything good. It looked like someone had taken one of her dolls and spray painted it blotchy red then smushed it into a baby seat because it wouldn't conform. It either slept or needed something ALL THE TIME. It was horrid and it did not help to ease Sarah into sisterhood. Quite the opposite in fact.

Aunt Belle left when Mom was huge. It seems the slim shape that mom had been before this whole fiasco started had simply vanished. Mom had trouble standing, sitting, sleeping. Sarah had even become the go-getter when ever mom dropped something because she couldn't reach the floor anymore. Sarah wondered just how much bigger her mother would get? Would she simply explode? is that what happened to get the baby out? She had caught glimpses of some pretty gross things on TV while mom was flipping through channels at times. It didn't really matter though because Sarah just wanted her Mom back, she KNEW that as soon as this "baby" thing was done that everything would return to normal and she could be happy again.

Little did she know, this was no where NEAR the end. The "normal" that Sarah was thinking of was gone forever. It was still to be determined if this would be a good thing or a bad thing in the long run. Sarah was blissfully ignorant of the future, Mom had to have thought of this as a blessing for the moment.

What is This?

2008-06-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

A few months ago My brother and I were talking about creative writing projects. Even though we are 12 years apart in age, we have both found ourselves in college for the first time. Luckily for him, he had a head start and will be graduating from a 4 year program before I graduate from my 2 year program.

He has decided to follow a creative writing major and I am working on IT visual communications. We both chose or majors based on our creativity.

Last year I heard about something called NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. Since I started in school I have found that it has become much easier for me to let the ideas flow and work on creative writing pursuits. I wanted to try WriMo but with college being such a new thing to fit into my schedule at the time and also having the added responsibilities of raising 2 children and working full time I was unable to participate last year.

My brother on the other hand, is a college student. no kids, no job and his hobbies almost all revolve around creative interests and computers. After he explained a summer project he was working on and knowing that he has started writing a book in the past, I told him about WriMo. He thought it looked neat but November was too busy for him.

We discussed it a bit and I suggested a personal challenge just between him and I for July. A writing month for the 2 of us to challenge and push each other. Like Wrimo but merely sibling rivalry at its most creative.

It is now the middle of June, I had all but forgotten about the challenge until he reminded me of it. so this blog, July WriMo, will be my personal attempt at a NaNoWriMo for personal reasons.

Link to it, follow it if you would like, comment at will. I will warn you. I will not be running a spellcheck or doing ANY editing at all to this copy until AFTER July.

You can find My Brothers WriMo attempt at Bret Cath if you would like to follow his as well.

Welcome to my dream or nightmare, too soon to tell which it will be.