The Ruins of Abalone

"They came upon the ruins quite by accident.
'What is this place,' asked Sam fearfully
'The Ruins of Abalone,' replied Isabel, staring in awe, 'I thought they were just a myth.'
'Are they... haunted?' Eli scooted closer to his friends
'Sam will protect us if they are, right Sam?' Alise shot a subtle look at Sam through her eyelashes
'Uh...' Sam looked around the ruins, 'Well, I... um...'
'They're not haunted,' said Isabel finally,'Would you like to hear the tale?'
The other three nodded
'All right. Follow me then,' She strode purposefully over the bridge, careful to stay away from the crumbling sides, through the broken gap in the wall, and right up to the door of the center tower.'
Sam, Eli, and Alise followed her a bit more timidly.
'The tale of the Ruins,' Isabel smiled at her friends, 'Is one of mystery, above all else. No one knows what happened to the great Castle of Abalone, once known for it's lavish parties and gossip-ridden court life. Tales are told of the princesses and princes who ruled society from the Castle of Abalone, but no tale is told of it's decline... except one.' She took a deep breath, and smiled mysteriously at the others, "In the rule of Flavius and Neora Sevante, the castle came under attack. The great gardens, once known for their giant seahorse shrubberies, were left unkempt, the moat ran dry, and the towers crumbled. Flavius and Neora evacuated all their friends, family, and staff, but they stayed, wanting to liberate their castle or die trying. A letter written from Neora to her sister Quiani was found. In it, Neora said she'd found a way to keep the opposing army out, but she and Flavius would have to sacrifice to achieve it. She didn't say what they had to sacrifice. After taht, they were never heard of again, and the Castle of Abalone dissapeared off the map. The opposing army found themselves in their beds in their own homes, remembering nothing of the attack and seige. No-one ever spoke of the Castle of Abalone again. This has to be it!' At this she ran to the door and tried to pry it open. It wouldn't come. Sam and Eli jumped up,
'Let us try!'
She rolled her eyes, but nodded, and they set to work. She went to the windows. They were covered in sand, and permanently fogged with time. She tried to wipe them clean, but they were sporting the wear of ages. She was startled out of her cleaning attempts by a yell from Eli.
'We got it! Isabel, we got it!'
She and Alise ran to where the boys were staring apprehensively into the dark building.
'Oh, come on, there's nothing bad in there!' Isabel pushed them aside and started to go into the house
'We'll wait out here. Call if you need anything,' Alise exchanged a look with Sam, who nodded. Eli, on the other hand, shook his head.
'I'll go with you, Isabel.'
'Thanks.'
He nodded, and took her hand, 'We don't want to get separated, you know.'
'Right,' she said,  a bit dis concertedly.
They tiptoed into the pitch black tower, attempting not to trip over anything. In the dim light from the open door Isabel could make out 500 year old furniture, slightly shabby, but otherwise in perfect condition. She moved a little closer to Eli, 'This is kinda creepy. Wish we had a light.'
'Yeah. Wait!' He fumbled in his pocket for a minute, and then pulled out a flash light, 'Here!'
'You had a flashlight in your pocket? Why did you -" She stopped talking as he shone the light around the room. It truly was eerie. It was as if they had stepped back into medieval times. Isabel pointed wordlessly at a spiral stone staircase. Eli nodded, and they made their way to it. They crept up the steps, Eli flashing his light before them, until they'd reached an opening into another large room. This one had a large four poster bed in the corner and - Isabel gasped - a roaring fire in the fireplace. A woman was sitting at a vanity combing her long brown hair. Eli tried to pull Isabel down the stairs, but she wouldn't budge.
'Neora?' She took a step towards the woman, much to Eli's annoyance.
The woman smiled slightly and gave a small incline of her head that sufficed as a nod.
'Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Eli! Oh my goodness, you're... you must be... oh my goodness.' Isabel was shaking, staring at Neora. The former queen came up, smile still present on her pale face, and took Isabel's hand.
'Thank you,' She breathed.
'What... for what?" Isabel managed to shrink from her touch and look excited by it at the same time.
'Only one who was not seeking the castle could find it, and only one who did not want to harm it could enter. You have achieved both, and thus have freed me and my husband, Flavius.'
At his name, a man appeared at the foot of a staircase that led up. He stared for a moment, shocked, at the newcomers, and then rushed to Neora's side.
'Have they done it?" he whispered to her. She nodded, and he opened his mouth in a silent scream of joy. she turned bemusedly to Isabel and Eli;
'I'm afraid fivehundred years does not help the voice.'
'Five... five hundred...' Eli shook his head
'Yes. Five hundred years ago we cast a spell upon this castle. Nothing in it would age, until such time as one of pure heart discovered it. Unfortunately, as the spell is impossible to cast outside of the object you are immortalizing, we had to stay for the span of time also. I'll admit, we've questioned our decision many times through the years. But perhaps... perhaps you can use these ruins as a teaching tool. Tell the world about our time, show them how we lived.'
'What about you?' Isabel frowned at the former Queen
'We are going to, finally, get some much needed rest.' Flavius smiled at Neora.
'Thank you, both of you.' Neora laid her hand upon their joined ones, 'May you have a wonderful life together.'
Eli reddened, 'Oh, we're not, I mean -'

'Hush, Eli.' Isabel was trying to listen to Flavius
A slow smile spread across Eli's face, and he moved closer to Isabel.
'Are you ready, my sweet?' Flavius had donned a crown, and given one to Neora.
'I am,' She placed her own crown upon her head, and gave the former King a kiss. THey  made their way to the four poster bed and lay on it, on their backs, staring at the stone ceiling. Isabel turned into Eli and began to sob. He put his arms around her absentmindedly, stunned by the suddenness of the monarchs' death.
They came, blinking back out into the light, much closer and more fragile than when they had entered.
'What happened?' Sam noticed Isabel's tearstained face, 'Are you alright?'
'Isabel? Isabel, are you ok? Eli, what happened?' Alise looked from Isabel to Sam and back, worry lines disturbing her normally perfect face
'We're fine,' said Eli, 'Fine.
Isabel nodded. Then she turned to Eli, 'We have to get back, tell the professor. Do you realize what this means, Eli? This can be my first project. I'll finally be able to become a real archeologist. You too!'
He smiled down at her, 'I know. I'm so incredibly happy for us.'
Alise turned to Sam, 'I think more happened in there than they're telling us.'
Sam nodded, 'Definitely.'

Stories

Hey guys! Guess what? I have recently found quite a few original stories -just the first chapter or so- that are primed and ready for completion!
Here is where you come in- you get to pick which story I work on first! I will give you each story summary and you get to pick!
Ok-
Option one: '7 years of servitude', a story about a simple village girl who goes to work in the palace and finds surprises from, and about, her past. [first person - happy story - happy ending]
Option two: 'Unnamed Kung-Fu story'. A story about lei-lah, and her fight for the freedom of her people... and the love she didn't know she had [third person - sad story - semi-happy ending]
Option three: 'Unnamed Princess Story' - a story about a Queen named karlie, how she had to flee from an evil prince, and how she realized her plight wasn't so bad after all. [second/third person - semi-happy story- happy ending]
Option four - 'Savannah'- A girl is in love... with a lion. This is a story about loss, trials, and hardship... And finding humanity. [second/third person - semi-sad story - semi-happy ending]

Well, there are your choices!! The summaries suck, I know, but the stories are good (even if a bit cliche, in the case of the first and third;) let me know which one you want to see first (and/or second, third, and fourth) asap!! I'm liking these!!
:)
~LS
Sent from my iPod

meeehhh

-_-

^^^ see that face? That's my 'meh' face. That's the face I make when I have a lot of good story and drawing ideas, and no way to put them down on paper because

A) I can't draw. at all.
B) at this particualr moment in time, I can't think of how to say what I want to say, so no story is happening
C) I JUST FEEL LIKE MEEEHHHH

hence the name 'meh face'

well, meh.

~LS

(PS - i wrote 'Zutara & Azokka' on my door in glitter glue/paint. it looks awesome :D)

Getting Licensed

(excerpt from - The Utterly Normal & Boring Escapades of Elaine)

Today was the day! One of the most important days of her life, one of the milestones that marked her growth.
"I'm going to get my driver's license!" Elaine declared to all her facebook friends
She woke up at 7:10am so that she would have enough time to pretty herself for the photo. This picture would be her ID for a whole year... it was no time to skimp on the prep time.
She found herself with just the right amount of time, a great start to the day. She grabbed her large pile of forms and jumped in the car with her dad, eagerly anticipating the short line (since, of course, they were aiming for opening time... no one else would dare be there!) and the easy passage.
As she pulled into the parking lot she noticed a line outside of the door.
'Well, that's probably jsut the people waiting for the doors to open,' she explained to herself
As she and her father walked up to the doors, they realized that the people were in lines.

The lines had already escaped the building.
Sighing in resignation, she took her place in the correct line.

"This can't be too bad, right?" She wiped the humidity-caused fog off of her sunglasses and look up at the clear blue sky. At least it wasn't rainy! And hey, it was like a sauna out here! A free sauna! She smiled to herself, happy with her optimistic observations. And it only got better. She ran into a friend that she hadn't seen in a while, which was nice, and the line moved quickly inside the building.

and another hour passed

and another hour passed.

at one point she remarked to her father, "I see why they don't make shows, or write stories, about teens getting their licenses. It would be rather boring."
Her father chuckled and nodded.

after three and a half hours in line, they finally got to the desk. All their forms were in order, and everything was done quickly. Unfortunately, she still had to take the driving test. Frowning in annoyance, she scheduled her test for the following monday.

"Well, that went well." Her father made a face.
"Tell me about it," She sighed.

So much for all those plans for the weekend.


(~LS)

a grotesquely incorrect portrayal...

It's still late. Somehow, I think I come up with my best work at these hours. Evidence;

 JACKSON RATHBONE IS NOT AND WILL NEVER BE ANY FORM OF TEXAN, AND NEITHER IS JASPER. I DESPISE STEPHANIE MEYER FOR HER HEATHENISTIC AND GROTESQUELY INCORRECT PORTRAYAL OF THAT SUCH GLORIOUS THING AS A TEXAN MALE

 a reply to Sera, who was claiming that Jasper was awesome cause he was a Texan. I say - battleship.

:P it's true, y'all

we are not, by any means, normal

It's 11:51 pm. Want me to tell you how I know? I just had this conversation on im with Sera -

Sera says
can you read something for me, I need you to look over it and give me your opinion

LuLu says:
 NO
 NO NO NO

 YOU WILL NOT FORCE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEe
 
Sera says:
 pleez
 someone HAS to read it

LuLu says:
 I WILL NOT FALL FOR YOUR EVIL TRICKZZZZZZZZZZZ

Sera says:
 wanna bet

LuLu says:
 SHES TRICKSIE

Sera says:
 HECK YA!!

LuLu says:
 WHATS IN HER POCKETSES???

Sera says:
 a new chapter

LuLu says:
 SHE MUST KNOW THE WAY OUUUTTTTTTTTT

Sera says:
 yes she does, give her four chapter and the way out will be found
 sixteen to a happy ending

LuLu says:
 MYYYY PREEEECIIIIIIIIOUUUSSSSSSSSSSSSSs

Sera says:
 twenty to get it to all come crashing down

LuLu says:
 smeagol knows. smeagol knows the truth. smeagol sees your tricksies. SMEAAAAGOOOOL KNOOOOOWSSSSS

*sera puts chapter excerpt that LUTHIEN DOES NOT WANT TO SEE*

LuLu says:
MY EYES ARE CLOSED
 IM NOT READING THAT
 YOU ARE TRICKSIEEEEEEEE

Sera says:
 CMON CORA!!
 PLEASE!!!
I NEED YOUR OPINION TO SEE IF I SHOULD CHANGE ANYTHING!!!
 PLEASE!!!
 WITH A BIG RED SUPER SWEET CHERRY ON TOP!! AND A FREE ZUKO!!

honestly, I wonder. do normal people talk like this? 'Cause... I doubt it. :D

my preciousssss

~LS

Letting Go

This is Sera's world, that I'm using :D for more Pandora & Luthien go visit her blog!! Serastoff.blogpost.com




"


She felt torn. In many, many ways.


In one way, she wanted her friend to leave. Perhaps it would be easier than this slow band-aid that was being painfully pulled off. If she left, then maybe the salt would stop falling on this open wound. Perhaps her heart would stop its random aching.


In another way, obviously, she didn’t want her friend to leave. She wanted to drag it out, to be able to be with her as long as possible.


“Why must she go?” Luthien recalled her whiny pleading, her immature unacceptance


“She’ll have a better future if she leaves, Lu. Besides, she’s not happy here, you know it!”


“She’s plenty happy here! We have lots of fun! She’d grow to love it even more if she stayed!”


“Luthien, please. Pandora needs to go back to where she’s happy; she needs to go to where she’ll be able to grow more. Don’t fight it.”


She had stalked off, angry at the predicament. She’d sat on the window seat in her room (her favorite place in the whole house) and stared at the sky, the heavy gray clouds echoing her feelings.


“Who will take care of her? Who will watch her, protect her?” Luthien sighed, knowing no-one would answer her.


A sudden call from her mother caught her attention.


“Luthien, a letter!”


She ran down eagerly, hoping perhaps it was something that would help this awful day.


“It’s from Li!”


She smiled. This probably would brighten her day.


She read the message, a standard one about the amazingness of life in general, and felt better. As she returned her gaze to the gray sky, a thought suddenly struck her.


“Li will watch her, Li will protect her! Li knows she’s special, Li knows about her tendencies.”


She knew that Pandora was trying to have a semi-normal life, despite her mental conditions. She knew that Pandora couldn’t stay here and do that. Gradually, over the months before Pandora left, Luthien became accustomed to the idea. She accepted it, was happy for Pandora even. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t miss her, wouldn’t ache sometimes.


Now, she wanted to rip the band-aid off. She was sitting here, in this old familiar tree (Pan’s favorite), thinking about life in general. Her journal lay open next to her, half a page filled out. There was no other way she knew how to express her feelings except through writing. Writing was emotionless and emotion-filled at the same time. The very phenomena of writing something down in a journal could not be explained. She picked it up again and began to write, the sound of the pen softly connecting with the paper was like a balm to her wounds. She let the tears flow as she wrote, not caring if her eyes would be red or her head would ache. Tears must flow sometimes, despite society’s looking down upon them.


She scribbled a poem that had suddenly come to her in the soft twilight


“For though time passes, we stay still
Sitting, laughing, upon this hill


I smile at you, and you smile at me
We wonder what we might not be


A dancer, a writer, an artist, we scream
these are the simple things we dream


We wish upon the shooting stars
but will we end up tending bars?


For dreams are funny, angry things
they fly around on paper wings


Eventually the wings get torn
and new thoughts and dreams are born


The old ones turn to ash and die
to the corners of our hearts they fly


To stay and grow and fester and mold
until we have grown far too old


For them to ever happen, or such
these dreams feel stale to the touch


And we cry at night as we remember them
What could, and might have very well been


Our future lives as actresses and writers
have fallen in proverbial fires


And burnt to death, as we can see
Burning flesh and death smell we


Our lives have turned to nothing more
than a simple wooden score


And nothing that we say or do
could bring us back to twenty-two


So let us stay here, and speak our dreams
for, perhaps, if we believe, these things


They will come to pass, that is;
if we work , and study too


We will be able to accomplish
things through Him who strengthens us


And anything is possible through Him


Impossible things, like flying, living, dreaming
are possible, through HIM, God our father


So let us leave this pretty hill
go to achieve our dreams, we will


And pray and hope for happy lives
in which I become a loving wife


And you can live where’re you wish
I will visit you with a covered dish


We’ll smile and laugh like always
and it’ll be more than just a phase


It will be our life, filled with love
and joy, and everything stereotypically included above


And when we feel down, we’ll remember this hill
and sitting and laughing and talking still


We will always be friends, always love each other, never will we be able to completely and utterly separate.”


Luthien tore it out and stuck it in the hole in the tree. She knew Pandora would visit here before she left in the morning, and hopefully she’d see this. Brushing a stray tear from her eye, Luthien slid off the tree, relishing in the simple joy of the way the grass felt on her bare feet. She walked tiredly home, emotionally exhausted. Smiling at her complete and utter emotionality and her over dramatic-ness she gave a sudden skip. Life was good, and anyone who couldn’t see that was blinder than a mole.


Yes, a mole!


Never will we be able to completely and utterly separate. This carries me on."








~LS

Facts

There are some things in life that we know for sure. No doubts. Things like: the sun will always rise in the morning, and the moon will do the same at night. Every morning we will be rudely awakened by beams of gold, and every night we will be serenaded to sleep by beams of silver. This is something we will never question, never worry about... never even consider it becoming non-existent. We can see the sun every day, we can see the moon every night (even 'new moon' we can still see its shadow). Everyone in our history has been able to see the sun and moon. It is an 'unquestionable' fact of life.

It is a part of time; time is the same. We know time will pass. No one exclaims at the fact. No one is surprised by the changing of seasons; no one is surprised to grow older. Saddened by it perhaps, but it is expected. We don't see time, but we know it is there, always moving, always passing us by.

If these things, things that we can and can't see, are accepted so readily, why isn't the existence of God? Why, when he is so plainly visible everywhere and in everything, is he not believed in by every being on this earth? We can accept the passage of time, the rising and setting of the sun and the moon, our own mortality, the life of the things around us... yet we cannot readily accept God. Even the strongest Christian has doubts on occasion. I can bet you have never gone to bed thinking; 'I wonder if the sun will rise tomorrow. I wonder if it will be a new day, or the same one. I wonder if next year will come. I wonder if I will ever die.' You know these things will happen. The same way, I can bet you have gone to bed at least once thinking; 'Is God really real, and even if He is does he really love me? Was it really Him who created all of this?'

Truly, it is sad. God's presence in creation, His ultimate and unconditional love for us is visible everywhere, in every tree and every cloud, in every smiling face and every angry one. He is the one who makes the sun rise and the years go by, the one who changes the seasons and carefully crafts wrinkles onto our faces. He is always there, always loving us; wayward, sinful us!

Sunbeams will always fall in the morning, and moonbeams will always fall at night. If these things are true, how much more is it true that God will always love and care for us; always be there.

Hebrews 13:5b - 'I will never leave you, nor will I forsake you'

Job 37: 5-6, 14-16, most of 38,  "God's voice thunders in marvelous ways; He does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth,' and to the rain shower, 'Be a mighty downpour.'
¹⁴Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God's wonders. Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash? Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of Him who is perfect in knowledge?
Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said: Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this. What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle? What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth? Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it, to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass? Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew? From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen? Can you bind the twinkling Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God's dominion over the earth? Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, 'Here we are'? Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind? Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together? Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket? ^42:1-2Then Job replied to the Lord: 'I know that you can do all things, no plan of yours can be thwarted.'"

~LS

The grass is always greener...

Winter's ice loses its glory,
We tire of cold and white.
And with heavy hearts we count the months
'til flowers are in sight.

We cry with joy at the first warm breeze
And the tidings it may bring
For we know the grass is always greener
In the first few months of spring.

Birthday Buddies

Tuesday was my birthday. It was also Harrison Ford's birthday. I wonder if he looks as much forward to it as I do. Does his life revolve around his birthday? Is his email address 'guns-r-better-than-swords713@gmail.com'? (I bet it is). Is his favorite number 13 (mine is), his favorite month July, his favorite season summer? These are the questions that keep me up at night. That and... are sheep really just clouds that have assumed organic shape?? It's really a wonder I get any sleep at all! ;)

happy post-birthday to me!!

~LS