yvensong

February 23, 2026

FOWC – Eliana’s Tickets

Filed under: Fiction,NaNoWriMo,Writing — yvensong @ 11:57 pm
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Eliana stood in the parking lot holding the ticket that the lab had handed to her. Her apprehension had grown, instead of easing. She considered going back into the lab and taking the vial that she had handed them a few minutes ago. She let out a breath, closed her eyes, and attempted to calm herself. She would never get the answers she was searching for, if she didn’t trust someone.

Eliana returned to her car and peeled out of the parking lot. She felt a sudden need to leave the small town and to get back home. She told herself that she needed to get back and feed her cat.

She didn’t realize how fast she had been driving until she heard a siren behind her. She pulled over for the inevitable speeding ticket. She was watching the officer approaching her car, when she spotted a car passing by, that looked like the one that had been tailing her, earlier in the day. The driver appeared to be the same person she had ditched at the convenience store. The driver locked eyes with her for a brief moment as they passed.

She made a quick decision, not sure if it was a good one, but it seemed good at the moment. When the officer reached her car, she rolled down the window, and breathlessly told the officer that she was trying to get away from someone who had been stalking her. She apologized for speeding, but emphasized that she was really frightened by the stalker. She pointed down the highway and told the officer that the person just drove by.

The officer glanced down the highway. “The car that just turned around?”

“Yes!” squeaked Eliana. They both watched as the car pulled over to the side of the road several hundred feet away from them.

The officer called for immediate back-up. She gave a description of the car down the road and mentioned that occupants may be dangerous. She stood next to Eliana’s car, until three patrol vehicles surrounded the other vehicle. She received word that the occupant was armed.

She turned to Eliana. “This seems to be your lucky day.” She dismissed Eliana with the command that she stay within the speed limit.

Eliana thanked the officer, profusely, and the rest of her drive home was uneventful.

Written as part of my 2025 NaNoWriMo story with inspiration from Fandango’s One-Word Challenge.

February 2, 2026

FOWC – Eliana is Apprehensive

Filed under: Fiction,NaNoWriMo,Writing — yvensong @ 10:36 pm
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Eliana felt apprehensive about handing over the dart she had found, in the burnt-out demo house, to the lab. She had never worked with this particular lab before, and hoped that they weren’t connected to the development corporation. More so, she hoped they weren’t connected to whoever had shot her with the dart.

She had spent weeks researching different labs that might be able to analyze the drug remaining in the dart. It was difficult, since she didn’t want to tell any of the labs upfront what she was trying to get analyzed. She didn’t want to accidently alert Detective Sanders, the corporation that Detective Sanders was employed by, or her attackers.

Eliana made her calls and sent texts from burner phones. She tossed the phone whenever she suspected the lab of being in cahoots with those that might want to do her harm. She used the phones in different locations, just in case someone tried to pinpoint her location. Everyday, she grew more and more apprehensive about finding anyone she felt safe handing the dart over to, until she found a small, private firm that mostly dealt with analyzing water and herbs for individuals and small businesses.

She poured half of the drug into a small vial. She set out to find the small lab. It would be a three to four hour drive to the town that they were situated in, if she took a straight route. She suspected, though, that she would be followed, so she meandered down country roads, stopping for coffee and lunch and to browse small stands.

At one of her stops, she tricked her pursuer into believing she stepped into the bathroom. When the pursuer entered the store behind her, she was able to slip back out and drive off. After constantly checking her rear view mirror, she decided that she lost her shadow, and continued toward the town that the lab was in.

This little scene for #NaNoWriMo2025 was inspired by Fandango’s One-Word Challenge.

December 2, 2025

Pondering Over a Mixture

Filed under: life,Memories,NaNoWriMo,Politics,Writing — yvensong @ 10:04 pm
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I am coming to the end of the day with a mixture of optimism and well, not optimism. I made my third attempt to make an appointment with an optometrist, in order to get new glasses, so that I can continue driving. The third attempt finally was successful, though it’s so close to my appointment to go to the DMV, that I’m feeling apprehensive that I may not get my glasses soon enough.

In Tennessee, a hardcore T-Rumper won the special election, despite the hard work that the Democrat candidate put in. I am not surprised, as Tennessee is one of those states well-known to vote against their own best interests.

My attempt at NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writer’s Month) was successful, in that I achieved the goal I set for myself. The goal this year was much lower than any goal I’ve set for myself in all the years that I’ve done NaNoWriMo. When I began participating in NaNoWriMo, I hit the 50,000-word goal every year for several years, including the year that I was fighting cancer during November. There had been a year or two that I didn’t participate at all and there have been a few years that I set a lower goal, but I’ve always stuck to writing every day. This year, my writing mojo barely rose to the surface. I got easily bored with my story and I think it’s a safe bet that had a lot to do with the lack of writing mojo. I just couldn’t get my characters to talk to me and guide me through their adventures.

My birthday is coming up soon. I will have lived 73 years on this planet this coming Saturday. I am amazed and grateful that I have made it this far. There have been times over my lifespan that it looked dubious that I’d reach this age. I am looking forward to celebrating with various friends over the next several days, maybe weeks.

Inspired by Fandango’s FOWC and the Ragtag’s Daily Prompt.

December 1, 2025

NaNoWriMo 2.0 – 2025

Filed under: NaNoWriMo,Writing — yvensong @ 12:23 am
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November 11, 2025

RDP and a Glance at the Current NaNoWriMo

Filed under: Fiction,NaNoWriMo,Writing — yvensong @ 8:48 pm
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Once Eliana was alone, she thought about how absurd her situation was. She had been shot with a dart filled with drugs. She had been abducted from her job site and left to die at the edge of an ocean. She reflected on that. The only people who knew that she would be there were the people she was meeting up with, and probably their supervisors. She couldn’t figure out how anyone else knew. She didn’t see anyone else at the site that wasn’t supposed to be there. She had either not noticed anyone stalking her, or this was an inside job. That last possibility chilled her to the bone.

Inspired by the Ragtag Daily Prompt – Absurd.

October 30, 2025

NaNoWriMo Prep with Prompts

Filed under: Fiction,NaNoWriMo,Writing — yvensong @ 11:14 pm
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“Sarah-Olivia Barry?”

“Yes?” Sarah-Olivia answered. “Is my new dowsing rod ready?”

“We made it per your instructions. A branch from a black willow tree. It has been blessed by Master Dowser Terrance Buchanan.”

“Thank you,” said Sarah-Olivia. She took the rod from the shop keeper. She was impressed with how perfectly balanced it felt. She felt the rod would be a perfect addition to the other three that she had. She was anxious to get out and give it a test run. She had no doubt it would perform as she needed.

She paid the owner of the small shop their agreed fee. She left the shop, feeling grateful that this place was in such close proximity to her home. They did such exquisite work on everything she had ever ordered from them.

Back at home, she perused her maps. She had explored so much of the areas that were in proximity to her home. Only a few proved to be resources of clean water, and some had already been claimed by others. She marked off a section on one of her maps. It would take a few days to hike out to. She was glad that she had taken the following week off from work.

She downed a shot of tequila and searched through her backpack. She needed to replace the water filter and the water purification drops. Her respirator was in good condition, still. She had enough rations to last a week. Feeling confident that she would be fully prepared to leave in a week, she climbed into bed and fell into a restless sleep.

Written with inspiration from Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (shop) and the Ragtag Daily Prompt (proximity).

October 24, 2025

Flashback Friday – Fretting about NaNoWriMo

Filed under: Memories,NaNoWriMo,Writing — yvensong @ 11:02 pm
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For Fandango’s Flashback Friday, I am going into the archives from October 23, 2025.

As a side note, I did make my 50,000 words for that particular NaNoWriMo.

Fretting about NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo is only days away, and I am in a mild panic. I don’t know what I’m going to write about. I thought I did, but the setting was just too grim, I guess. I can’t get the main character to move past the opening scene. I can’t even imagine what happens beyond the first paragraph. How am I going to get 50,000 words, if 500 words seem impossible?

Even that wouldn’t seem completely and utterly hopeless, but I have a new problem this year…I don’t have any characters yelling at me. There’s none even whispering much to me. Each of the other years, I’ve had characters babbling in my head, impatiently waiting for me to bring them to life. This year, there’s no one really there. I heard whispers of Elsa earlier in the month, but she seems to have slipped away into hiding.

I’ve been in major input mode the last couple of weeks and very little output mode. Maybe by the time midnight of the 31st rolls along, I’ll leap into output mode. Maybe.

What will I do if I don’t? People are depending on me to be their example. I’m depending on me. I’ve made it 4 years in a row. I can’t, and won’t allow defeat before I even have a chance to begin. Somewhere, there is a character waiting for his or her story to be told. Maybe there’s a small guinea pig that develops a taste for sushi. Maybe there’s a were-moth living within my walls and I just haven’t been quiet enough to let it whisper its story to me.

October 13, 2025

NaNoWriMo Prep

Filed under: Fiction,NaNoWriMo — yvensong @ 11:58 pm
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Sarah-Olivia’s thoughts were weaving through a bunch of scenarios, all leading to one conclusion. She couldn’t wait to get home and have a shot of tequila. The sidewalk was full of people that she had to weave her way through. She chuckled bitterly to herself. On the day that her feet were swollen and more painful than usual, was the same day that three shops on her way home were having their big sales, causing the pedestrian traffic jam. She took a deep breath and pushed her way through the prongs of shoppers.

As soon as she spotted her small, Colonial home, she sighed. Her shoulders relaxed. She was home. She tossed her shoes in front of the door, headed to the kitchen, and poured herself a shot. She tossed her head back and swallowed the liquor in one swig. She closed her eyes to savor the sweet flavor and the warmth, as it spread throughout her body. She no longer cared that she would not be receiving her one-month chip from Al-Anon.

She set the glass down and caught sight of her banged-up hands. She will need to apply some heavy-duty moisturizer tonight. She heard her mother’s voice in her head, reprimanding her for forgetting to wear her gloves at work. She always found wearing gloves indoors sort of moronic, yet, as a ski instructor, her hands get really roughed up on variety of poles and other equipment she has to handle.

Which brought her thoughts back to what she was pondering, earlier. Was she ready to leave her job? She liked the people she worked with. She was happy to have found a position where, instead of freezing, she worked in a small warehouse — one that could be considered cozy. She did miss her friends, though if she worked a Monday through Friday job, she still wouldn’t see them. They worked weekends, just as she was doing now.

Doing her best Scarlett O’Hara impression, she said to the empty house, “I can’t think about that right now. I’ll worry about that tomorrow.” Sarah-Olivia poured herself another glass of tequila, sat down on her sofa, and perused one of her photography books.

Above post was inspired by my Inktober drawing and an AI rendition of a character being considered for this year’s NaNoWriMo

October 6, 2025

NaNoWriMo Prep — Terrance and His Mustache

Filed under: Fiction,NaNoWriMo,Writing — yvensong @ 11:58 pm
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Terrance stared at himself in the mirror. He couldn’t decide whether he approved of his mustache, or not, despite the months it took him to grow it and groom it. It was neat looking and he diligently kept it clean.

The biggest plus, as far as he was concerned, was that it hid his protruding lips. His mustache and his beard hid the slight case of vitiligo that he suffered with.

Terrance recalled one day, when he was still a child. He and his grandfather had been in the bathroom. He was watching his grandpa trim his beard. His grandfather looked down at him and asked, “When did I get so old?” He had no idea, at the time, how to answer him, so he had just shook his head.

He chuckled, wondering the same rhetorical question. His face reflected his 78 years and more. Every wrinkle held a story. Every strand of grey hair whispered tales of the life he had lived.

What made him suddenly sad was realizing that he had no one to tell those stories and tales to. Who would want to listen to a crazy old man about a rather unusual life?

Above post was inspired by my Inktober drawing and an AI rendition of a character being considered for this year’s NaNoWriMo. Name was suggested by Sunra Rainz.

October 1, 2025

Inktober October 1, 2025

Filed under: Art,NaNoWriMo,Writing — yvensong @ 10:56 pm
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I don’t know if I’ll be doing Inktober every day. I’m more interested in using the prompts to inspire some practice writing to prepare for NaNoWriMo this year.

Here is my first entry into Inktober 2025. It’s a very rough drawing of a character that may or may not make it into my NaNo attempt.

I’m not kidding. This is a very ROUGH drawing. I make no claims to being able to draw, and faces are one of the things I’m the worst at.

#Inktober #Inktober2025

You can find the Inktober prompts and rules at this site: https://inktober.com/rules

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