Cheez N' Noble's Writing Blog

Shadow

2011-04-24T22:52:00.001-07:00

Each of us has a shadow,

A backdrop to our lives,

A darker side within us,

The one that wields the knives.

At times it can be hidden,

A thought from deep inside,

But often it seeps through,

And there it can abide.

For some it’s just a harmful word,

For others, a nasty thought,

Sometimes it comes out as violence,

Leaving your targets distraught.

Why do we act out in this way,

Harming the ones we love,

Is it an uncontrollable rage,

Bestowed from up above?

Or is it a lack of foresight,

When we’re caught up in our pain,

Is it just too hard to see,

We’re not alone in heavy rain?

My shadow whispers quietly,

Begging for a chance,

I strangle the thoughts as best I can,

Yet it continues to dance.

Some days it slips through my grasp,

And fires away at will,

So I apologize to all of those,

Who’ve been caught on the downhill.

Monstrum Venator

2010-04-04T21:15:00.000-07:00

Because this story is so VERY long, I'm just going to post a link to the story. You don't have to read it all at once (it's really REALLY long), so just read as much as you can/want, comment on what you think, and take as long as you need to read it.

Monstrum Venator

Changing Point

2010-04-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

It was as if those doors were the changing point. They were an end to the hallway and the cold white bricks that trapped me on all sides but, more than that, they were an end to the monotony and cruel irony that was my life. Pushing through the doors would be accepting my fate and allowing the world to pull me along just like all of the other mindless guppies that flooded the school. As of right now, however, this hallway was mine. I was alone and I had a choice to make.
I could almost hear the sound of my hear beat echoing down the hall as my feet continued towards the gray double doors. Inhaling, the chilled air rushed down my throat and filled my lungs. I have never felt so alive than at that moment as I was deciding to throw it all away.
My thoughts were distracted momentarily as two boys came running down the hall, one running away humorously and the other chasing him with a much more serious expression plastered on his face. They flew through the doors and my shoulder-length brown hair was tossed backwards in a gust of wind. Shaking my head, I pulled my jacket closer to me. Who was I kidding? These were just regular doors, leading to nowhere special. And besides, its not like I could simply just end my life right here and now. Its never that easy.
Pushing through the doors I hurried to my car, my thoughts far away. I realized that I was being ridiculous. I just couldn't help but feel that a part of me was still in that hallway staring at the gray doors, hoping for an end.

Last of the Bloodline

2010-02-14T21:27:00.000-08:00

This is based off a dream I had a little while ago. I had gotten into the habit of writing down my dreams like stories, and this was what came out of one. It's a little incomplete because the dream continued but I never got around to writing the rest of it. I hope you enjoy it.

It hurt to breathe, so I tried to suck air in as little as possible. It also hurt to still be alive, but I knew that I couldn’t let go yet so I struggled to keep my heart beating, to keep my mind together. My body felt heavy, despite the loss of most of my blood, and I moved up and down with every breath of the brain dead body beneath me. I didn’t remember how I ended up on top of the body, or even how it had managed to become brain dead without actually dying, but it wasn’t my main concern, so I didn’t think about it.

I was cold, and it was more than just a simple chill. I felt like I would never be warm again, like my entire body was made of ice. The cold and the pain competed against one another, and I didn’t feel like I could last very much longer. I needed blood to replace what I had lost.

My vision flickered, the pain throwing everything into a red haze. The large hall I had ended up in wasn’t familiar, particularly the garish mirrors that covered the entire ceiling. And since my neck hurt too much to turn around, all I could see was a reflection of myself in those gold tinged mirrors.

I had never considered myself a beauty, not like the ones that occupied the circle of wealthy, but I knew I wasn’t ugly. Not like normal humans anyway. Seeing myself in those mirrors was something I will unfortunately never forget. I had taken a severe beating, one of the worse that I had ever seen, much less lived through, and it didn’t improve my ordinary looks.

I was lying crosswise across the body, which looked like it had been a man of the lower courts, and both of us were lying in a still growing pool of my precious blood. It was painful just looking at all that wasted blood. Both of my legs had been broken and were bent at wrong angles, and there were at least a dozen deep slashes across every part of my body. There was a long slash across the left side of my face which burned with more than just pain, cutting across my smooth featured face. Even to me my normally bright blue eyes looked dull and hazy with pain. I remembered someone telling me that my eyes looked like the sky in deep summer, but with so much blood gone I couldn’t remember exactly who.

My long hair, currently black, was matted with blood and dirt, and in my agonized mind I wondered why it had turned black. I tended to keep it an ordinary brown to keep the women of the upper courts off my back. If I survived through this, which was looking less likely, I would probably have to cut it all off and start over.

I tried to remember who I had been fighting, and why, but it was draining away as fast as my blood, and I would probably always have a hard time remembering, even if I got more blood to replace what I had lost. The longer I remained broken on the ground draining of blood, the less I would remember and the harder it would be get it all back.

“It’s Shizarra!” I heard someone shout. It sounded like it was coming from miles away. I couldn’t move my neck to see who it was, since I couldn’t recognize the voice, and my mind wandered again, wondering if my spine was really broken somewhere. I didn’t doubt that it was.

Someone knelt next to me and a face filled my vision. I blinked slowly, taking another shallow breathe. It was a young boy, probably only twelve or thirteen, and he looked like he belonged to the middle court. He looked familiar, but once again I realized just how much memory I had lost with the blood. He looked worried, and he glanced away from my face for a moment.

“She’s still alive!” He cried, and while his voice and been quiet before, now it was excruciatingly loud. I grimaced, and the slash on my face burned again.

Another face came into view, standing up high above me and this one I did recognize. It was an older man, with silvery white hair and a full beard trailing down the front of his dark blue patriarch robes. It was the leader of the middle court clan I was part of, though his name escaped me. Following that train of thought led me to believe that the boy was also part of my clan, was probably one of the apprentices she had worked with.

While I tried to remember which apprentice he was, the older man made a strange face, his features scrunching together like he had tasted something sour.

“What a waste,” he mumbled, and the boy shot him a glance. I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but found that my vocal cords had taken a pretty harsh beating, just the like the rest of my body, and they didn’t work. Instead I coughed, which sent waves of agony through my chest and throat until tears flooded my eyes and began streaming down my temples to mix with the blood on the ground.

“We need to give her the blood,” the boy said, and immediately the man shook his head.

“No,” he said, spitting the word out forcefully. The boy looked up at him again, and I felt the tendrils of hope that had appeared with the boy start to shrivel up again. Without blood to help me heal I would be dead within the next few minutes, I could feel it.

“We would have to use too much, and then there wouldn’t be enough for Jozan,” the man continued, making it sound like this Jozan person was more important that I was. I should have recognized the name, since there are only three other people who use the same kind of blood that I do.

“But this is Shizarra!” The boy cried, and I felt his hand on one of my shoulders. I tried to smile, trying to let him know that I appreciated his sentiment, but my lips refused to move and my cheek burned again. The boy was paying attention to my face anyway.

The man’s face disappeared out of my vision and I heard his footsteps walking away. “You will do as I say,” he said, and then his footsteps faded away. The boy looked down at me again, his expression telling me that he was torn. I tried to lift my arm to touch his arm, to reassure him, but I was reminded in an explosion of pain that my shoulder had been shattered. More tears slid down my face, and the boy’s expression changed.

“I don’t care what he says,” the boy mumbled, and turned to do something beyond my peripheral vision. Then I felt a prick in my arm, and I was flooded with warmth. I glanced at the boy’s face, and he smiled at me.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be okay in a little while,” he said, and I felt another prick and more warmth. Then the boy stood up, glancing around furtively, and after one more smile down at me, took off running.

As the warmth spread through my entire body I could feel my body starting to heal itself, bones and muscles mending, and skin pulling back together. It was painful, but not as bad as when they had first been inflicted. I was soon able to sit up, though it still hurt to move too much, and I knew I had to get away from the large hall before anyone came and saw.

I found that I was still crying, though it wasn’t from pain anymore. I had thought that I would die, and resigned myself to it, and the boy, whose name still escaped me, had given me another chance. If I ever saw him again then I would thank him properly, but until then I would just have to survive.

I struggled to my feet, feeling woozy with pain and the drunken feeling that came with new blood. Bones mended the fastest, while muscles and skin the slowest, and my shattered shoulder would definitely take the longest, but I would be able to walk around.

Trying to stay upright, I stumbled to one of the open doors leading out of the room and started heading back towards the clan house.

Emotions

2009-02-16T19:55:00.000-08:00

The birds soaring
high above are
my caution,
The slowly falling
rain drops are
my depression,
The ever worn
trails are
my wisdom,
The hyper, jumping
crickets are
my wrestlessness,
The tormented
wolf cry is
my sorrow,
The furious
winds are
my trials,
and the smallest
minnows are
my hope.
All of these are kept
behind the dam,
the keeper of emotions,
And as the winds batter
at the birds,
throw the rain to the
ground, stir
up the wolves
scare away
my hope,
you come to find
even the strongest of dams
can't hold back the
rush of emotions
and the screams of
my pain.
It rushes over and
falls
to the unprotected
dried up river bed of
my life and leaves behind
a wound that can't
be healed except by
the most gentle of
emotions.
The most disastrous
and deadly of them all.
But without it,
the dam will never
be able to stop
the flood of misery.
Without love,
it could never heal.

Huntress, Chapter One

2009-02-16T19:41:00.000-08:00

This is the edited first chapter of my completed novel, Huntress, which I wrote during NaNoWriMo. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter One

Chandra Lynne Graves stared out the front window at the dreary weather. She had been reading a book, but the hypnotizing sound of the rain had drawn her gaze, and she found herself lost in thought. The rain had started the night before and didn't seem like it was going to let up anytime soon, which was a change from the forcasted sunshine. There was no wind; just falling rain drenching everything in its path.
From the window Chandra sat next to she could see the large empty house and its smaller neighbors, and she wondered, like she always did when she saw it, if there was ever going to be someone living there.
She was about to turn back to her book when she saw a large U-Haul van pull in to the empty house’s drive way and two men began unloading the van in to the garage. She raised her eyebrows in curiosity. There hadn’t been anyone living in that house for years, not since the last tenets had moved out suddenly.
Obvious from the van, someone was moving in. She could barely make out the moving van’s plates through the rain but recognized the style as being from New York. It wasn't everyday the small coastal town got move ins from so far away and her curiosity was sparked
Since it was Sunday Chandra didn’t have school, and it had always been her mom's rule that she didn't go anywhere on Sunday. So reading by the window was a fairly normal activity for Chandra on Sundays, but it had never been this exciting. She watched the men unload box after box, as well as large pieces of lavish wood furniture into the house. The men worked quickly and were soon done with the van. They loaded up their packing blankets and dollies and drove off again, leaving the house not as empty as before, but still devoid of people.
Chandra returned to her book, but was too distracted to really get into it again, so she returned to staring out the window at the gray sky and falling rain. Half an hour later, an expensive looking black car pulled into the driveway. Chandra watched with fascination as the occupants climbed out of the car to survey the house before hurrying inside out of the rain.
The first to come out was a tall older man, probably in his thirties, who was in a nice suit and had blond hair that was combed in a professional way. He quickly unfurled an umbrella and walked around the car to help someone out of the passenger side.
The lady he helped out was about a head shorter than the him, with black hair that brushed her back as she turned her head to look at the old house. She was dressed in a dress suit that was dark green and dark blue, and she looked to be about the same age as the man. The couple, arm in arm, then walked from the driveway to the front door and stepped inside.
Following the couple was another tall man, not quite as tall as the first, but about the same age, with long black hair and a little more casual dress. He did not even bother to look at the house, instead reached in to help a young woman out, who looked to be in her early twenties out. The young woman was much shorter than the man was, barely coming to his chest, with dark blond hair that was longer than the first woman’s hair and partially swept up in to a messy bun. She wore a beautiful dress that looked like it should be worn in the spring time instead of November and she shivered as soon as she stepped out of the car. The man pulled of his coat and handed it to her before taking her arm and following the first couple into the house.
A third woman climbed out of the car and opened an umbrella. She was probably between the heights of the previous two women, with golden brown hair that was cut around her shoulders. She wore a more homely outfit, and more weather appropriate, of a long skirt and long sleeve button up shirt. She waited at the edge of the large umbrella and another man came out of the car.
This third man was probably between the heights of the first two men, with brown hair cut around his ears. He wore another business suit, though was a little more casual about it with no tie. He took the umbrella from the woman, but the two didn't act like they were a couple, possibly siblings. They followed the others in to the house and the door was shut.
Chandra sighed. She had been hoping that there would be someone her age, but it looked like it was a group of adults. But soon another dark car pulled into the driveway, parking next to the first one.
Out of the second car, there was first a woman, not as tall as the first woman, but taller than Chandra was, with white blond hair, dressed in a slinky black dress that looked more appropriate for a bar. After climbing out of the driver's side, she pulled on a long coat and hurried to the back of the car to pull a wheelchair from the trunk. She then took the chair to the passenger side and opened an umbrella.
The person who climbed from the car into the wheelchair was a man and because he was set in the wheelchair right away, Chandra couldn't guess what his height was. He had short brown hair and was wearing another business suit.
Chandra began to think that the people who were moving in were all one big family of business adults.
The woman handed the umbrella to the man then pushed the wheelchair up the walk to the stairs where they stopped and waited for the next passenger.
Another man stepped out, tall, with dark red hair that was long enough to fall in his eyes. He didn't open an umbrella, but instead hurried to the steps to help the wheelchaired man up the stairs.
The next to come out of the car was a much shorter and rounder man. He had bright orange red hair that stuck out all over the place and was wearing a business suit that looked too small for him. He had the look of a comical mafia uncle. He glared up at the sky and hurried into the house without an umbrella.
Chandra expected another car to show up, but after waiting a few minutes and no car she figured that was everyone. She sighed, resigned to the fact that there was not going to be anyone her age. She could have used some new faces to hang out with.
It was another half an hour before a third car pulled up, this one more sporty then the first too, but still expensive looking.
The first to step out of the car from the passenger side was a short but slender young woman who looked like she was Chandra’s age. She had light brown hair and was dressed in jeans and a fancy shirt. She opened an umbrella and, without waiting for the next person, strode in to the house.
Next were two boys, probably only about 14 or 15, one taller than the other, but both thin. They both had blond hair, and Chandra entertained the thought that they might be twins, and one wore jeans and a tee shirt along with a messenger bag, while the shorter one wore tan pants and a sweater. They shared an umbrella to the door.
Then from the driver's side came a boy about Chandra’s age, possibly a year older, who looked different from anyone Chandra had ever seen, except in movies. He had golden blond hair that was cut just below his ears and he had golden tanned skin. She couldn't help but stare at his lean figure as he looked around at the neighborhood. He wore jeans and a long sleeve shirt along with several chains around his neck. He checked all the doors on the car, and Chandra assumed it was his car, before heading inside.
Chandra continued reading on and off by the window, every so often checking the house for more cars, there didn't seem to be another car coming. She soon decided that she could be more productive doing something else, so she closed her book.
She left the front room, exchanged greetings with her mom in the kitchen, and headed for her bedroom where she turned her computer on. While the old computer took its time loading she pulled her homework folder from her backpack and pulled out her English assignment. When the computer had finished load she opened a new document and began working on her paper.
She knew that homework was important, but after only a paragraph, she got so bored and frustrated with the lack of ideas that she saved and closed it. She could always do it later.
Instead, she peeked out her bedroom window, which faced the front of the house and the house across the street. There was another moving van parked in the driveway being unloaded by most of the men who had arrived as well as a pair of movers. She was surprised at first that there was another van, but then she remembered that she had seen fourteen people go into the house, so of course there would be another moving van.
She wanted to watch them longer, especially the golden colored boy, but her mom called her out for dinner.
Meals at the Graves home were simple, since there were only two of them. Chandra chatted with her mom a little about school, and about the new family that were moving in across the street, then she excused herself so that she could attempted her homework again.
She checked out her window as soon as she returned to her room and caught sight of the moving van disappearing down the road. After a moment though, a third van pulled into the driveway and the unloading process began again. One of Chandra’s eyebrows went up and began to wonder how big the house really was, to be able to fit so much stuff inside.
She tried to get her homework done, but she ended up giving into the temptation the check out the window every few minutes. Around nine she finally gave up and went to bed, after watching a fourth van being unloaded.

Again

2009-02-16T19:34:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking of things of my past and some memories like this came to mind so i had to get them out someway so... here it is. lol...

Again

The blade slices through
my skin again
blood stains
my clothes again
I hold back
a scream again
The pain

I am being
held down again
By another
lost soul again
his anger my
burden again
The fear

Why do i go
through this again?
Why don't I stand up for
myself again?
Why is it
always again?
The confusion

One Shots

2009-02-13T21:26:00.000-08:00

Just a couple of one shots I write while at work based on random words. Enjoy!

Bells

The sudden, silver peal of bells broke Nadya's revere and she looked up from the locket she had been staring at. All over the city bells were being rung, their normally bright and cheerful sound creating a cacophony of noise without pattern. As Nadya watched the city from the small hill by the outskirts, people streamed from every building, trying to find the source of the bellringer's panic.
Nadya herself searched the horizon from her higher vantage point, expecting to see an army marching towards the peaceful city. When there wasn't she stood and, after slipping the locket into her pocket, hurried down the hill to join the throngs in the street.

Baby Blanket

Acai watched carefully as the old seer ran her gnarled hand across the tiny baby's forehead. The baby squirmed in the seer's arm, reaching towards Acai with his chubby little arms. But the atmosphere was solemn enough, and everyone was silent enough, that the infant didn't cry.
"He shall grow up strong and steadfast," the seer finally pronounced and looked at Acai.
She held out her arms, in which was stretched a pale blue baby blanket. The seer placed her little boy in the folds of the blanket, and Acai pulled him close and tucking the down feather soft blanket around his small body.

Wedding Dress

Susan gazed at her third closet with a frown. The clothes were stuffed in tightly, most of which she hadn't worn in years. With a sigh of resignation, she shook open the large plastic garbage bag and began pulling dresses and skirts off their hangers, folding them carefully and placing them in the bag to be donated to the local thrift shop.
Halfway through the closet, she came upon a dress she hadn't worn, or even thought about, in over fifteen years. She carefully shook the closet wrinkles out and held it up.
The silky material and elaborate embroidery of her old wedding dress had begun to change color from the pearlesent white it was when she wore it, to a light cream color. Looking at it, Susan was reminded of how happy she had been when she had last worn it and she smiled. But her face soon fell as her mind followed the path to that event thirteen years ago, and she folded it and placed it into the bag before collapsing onto the nearby couch and bursting into tears.

Magnolia

The long procession trailed through the city, stopping all traffic. Hundreds of people continued to join as it wore through the streets towards it's destination.
At the head of the procession was the royal family, King and Queen in their carriage, Prince on his horse riding behind. The King and Queen were courteous, waving to their subjects, but they were solemn, as this was a solemn affair. The Prince, however, was crying. Not sobbing uncontrollably, but tears kept falling down his grim face.
Directly behind the Prince's horse was a large, beautifully decorated wagon pulled by twin white horses. Inside the body of the wagon was an elegant dark wood box and inside the box, a young woman rested in a bed of magnolia flowers, her beautiful face as pale as the horses drawing the wagon.
As the wagon passed, people lining the streets mourned the death of their future princess, and fell in with the rest of the mourners trailing behind.

Lily

Irana ran down the stone steps towards the river, tears streaming down her face. She nearly tripped in the dewy grass before she kicked off her heels and went barefoot, holding her skirts up as she ran.
She stopped when she reached the banks of the swiftly flowing river, leaning against a nearby tree as she continued to sob.
"Irana!" She heard someone shout from the direction of the castle and she looked to see who it was.
She could see someone in armor running towards her and it took her a moment to recognize James.
She turned away, staring at the river and trying to ignore James as he came. She heard him come to a halt just behind her, breathing hard from the run. After he ad caught his breath, Irana heard him take a step forward.
"Irana," he said and Irana shook her head. "Irana, be reasonable, please." He said and Irana whirled on him.
"You're leaving! What's so reasonable about that?" She shouted at him, more tears threatening to spill out of her eyes.
"Irana, it's not like I'm going to war!" He said, stepping closer, trying to comfort her.
"No!" Irana shouted. "You're going to Court and that's ten times worse!"
James raise his eyebrows in confusion.
"Why?" He asked.
"Because you'll go and meet beautiful women who are just like you and you will forget all about me!" Irana fought to keep from sobbing again.
James sighed, placing his strong hands on her small shoulders.
"If you think that, you don't know how much I love you." He said, and Irana looked up at him.
"You are my Lily of the Valley." He continued. "The most beautiful flower that blooms. No one in Court will be able to compare to you."
IRana smiled through her blurry eyes, and wrapped her arms around his waist in an embrace.

Tapshoes

It was taking longer for Anna to decorate her new apartment than she had anticipated. But she was down to the last box and she figured she could be done in another ten minutes.
She set the box down on the living room table and began pulling the picture frames out, holding them up to choose the perfect spot. When she had finished those, she pulled out the last item, cradling them gently in her hands.
It was a pair of well born black tap shoes with red ribbon tying the two shoes together. Se tried to smile at the memories that came to mind.
She carried the shoes to her bedroom wall, hanging them up next to the pair of ballet pointe shoes.
She rolled back in her wheelchair to stare at the two lonely looking dance shoes.

In a Jam

2008-07-23T21:21:00.000-07:00

My friend (Ginny) needed some depressing poems for her class. So... I wrote two for her... here's one of them :)

The lights go dim,
i close my eyes,
and breathe once more,
my lungs fill up,
i slowly exhale,
and then i pull
the trigger.
i hear a bang
and feel
the gun kick
and wait for
my end to come.
hurried steps,
run to my aid,
worried hands,
push open my door.
with exasperation,
i drop the pistol,
and realize
i had failed.
my ticket to,
freedom had,
jammed.

A Noble First Post

2008-05-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

All was quite in the enchanted forest.

That was how the enchanted forest liked it. The only sounds being made were ones that were part of the forest, such as the soft hooting of a few owls, the consistent chirping of bugs, and the subtle crystal like sound of the pockets of magic that hung in the air just above the ground like pale blue jewels.

The enchanted forest began to sink deeper into it’s roots as the sun hid itself below the horizon and darkness began to fill each corner of the forest. The pockets of magic began to glow gently in the darkness, and the moon rose to shed it’s pale light over the enchanted forest.

The enchanted forest was just about to go to sleep for the night when there came a loud noise.
Clank, clank, clank. The enchanted forest woke with a start and immediately began searching for the vile maker of the noise. Clank, clank. It seemed that the noise was getting louder. The enchanted forest spotted a lone knight walking down the central path. The enchanted forest sighed with a mighty wind that blew the knight back a little bit, before beginning to plan how to get rid of the nasty noise-maker.

As the enchanted forest searched all along the path that the knight was going to travel, the knight stopped, taking his helmet off and shaking his long blond hair out. The enchanted forest watched with disgust as the knight pitched a quick tent then built a fire. The enchanted forest screamed with fury and pain as he tossed branch after branch onto the fire, building it higher and higher. The wind blew hard, trying to blow the fire out. But the fire was built too big for just the wind. So the enchanted forest enticed some rain clouds to drift over, even though it hid the beautiful moon, and soon it was raining in the enchanted forest. Combined with the wind, the fire was soon put out, and the knight was left miserable in his plate armor. But the knight didn’t seem to want to leave. Instead of going to sleep, like he seemed to want to do, the knight packed up again and began clanking through the forest once more.

Then the enchanted forest had a brilliant idea. It quickly found the pocket of magic it wanted and gently nudged it towards the path. When the pocket refused to move any further, the forest began uprooting and moving the path so that it ran right over the pocket. Soon the knight was coming towards the pocket, but he spotted the light the pocket was giving off, and was reluctant to approach it.

So the enchanted forest began to whisper in the knight’s ear about the rumor that the magic pockets transported people to the edge. The knight stepped closer, then had second thoughts and stepped back. The enchanted forest tried again, whispering that it exploded into enough riches to make him king. Still, he did not approach the pocket of magic. After a moment of thought, the enchanted forest tried a third time.

This time, it whispered of a beautiful princess trapped inside the pocket of magic, whispering that all he had to do to free her was step into the pocket of magic. The knight listened for a minute, then strode forward, intent on rescuing said princess.

As he stepped into the pocket of magic, there was an explosion of light, a gentle thrumming sound, and when the light dissipated, a frog ribbited angrily at being tricked.

And all was quite once again in the enchanted forest.

The End