If You Were Here With Me In Las Vegas – A Weekend Coffee Share Post

Weekend Coffee Share

Hey there, glad to have you here again for coffee. Do you like this cup? It is one of my own designs, and yes, you can take it home with you.
I hope you do not mind that I will use your visit as an excuse to stop organizing my Zazzle stores for a moment. I did not bake anything this week, too busy, but I bought us some streusel cake.
So this week had been another busy one. I am trying to get ready for a few things, first the above-mentioned stores have to be ready for the upcoming holiday season. I have given them and myself a week to make them just the way I want to. By next Saturday, they better are that way.
Also, NaNoWriMo is only a month away. I want to have the first draft of a book finished by then and use that month to edit the mess I wrote. I say mess because the first draft is always a vomit draft – just a bunch of stuff written on paper – it is the subsequential stages that carve out a true story. Apparently this story will the intro to the town most of my Paranormal fantasy series will be centered in. So the details have to be right at the end. And they will be – hopefully.
Amazon is launching an Etsy-like business section for homemade products, and I am trying to find out as much info as I can. I really love the idea, and will be writing about it on the blog, whenever I get info about it. This will be interesting. (P.S. saw some of the pre-launch selection of some stores and darn they look good – impressive stuff)
If you were here  with me, I would tell you all of the reasons I do not like living in Las Vegas – the gambling in the grocery stores, the groves of homeless people in the parks, just a little bit away from tourist section, the dirtiness of the city, the personal stories of loss and addiction I have been listening to. It is a hard, dangerous city that takes so much out of so many people. On one hand, I see tourists and people with money (as obvious by their clothing, and expensive cars), walking around and partially stepping over people with no place to live. Poverty is everywhere in the US, but I have never seen it so much in your face and seen so many people act as if it is okay. It is not okay. But for me, a temporary resident only here to work for a few months, there is not much I can do. And that is what is killing me. I do what I can, donate where I can, listen to people’s stories and give a kind word or two. As I worry about the content of my next blog post, they are worried about what to feed their children or themselves. It took me a while to learn that I can not rescue everyone – an affliction my husband and I seem to share – so we do what we can to help. I just don’t feel like it is ever enough.

Okay, I’ll stop with the depressing talk, turning back toward my usual more upbeat self, hoping that you enjoyed your coffee, and I will bid you farewell with a blessing of prosperity and happiness, hoping that you and your loved ones will always have what you need, and wishing that you would share with those who do not.

Blessings!

P.S. Please check out all of the other wonderful people who write as a part of the “Weekend Coffee Share”. Give them some love!

The Girl – A Five Sentence Flash Fiction

Flash Fiction: The Girl

The spunk in her eyes surprised me.
I thought the torture he had put her through would have already taken all of her will, broken her and made her a heap of injured flesh, but instead she looked at me as if she was about to take me on, with the determination to win.
I suppressed my smile, and the flicker of pride, to look professional, after all, our cover could not be blown.
How otherwise would I be able to save her from the monster, in whom’s hands she had fallen?
I reached out toward her, half expecting a move back, but also ready for her to attack, while I whispered, “Let me get you out of this hell.”

Copyright Claudia H. Blanton 2015

This post was inspired by this week’s Five Sentence Flash Fiction writing prompt “Spunk”, by Lillie McFerrin. Find out what others wrote this week here

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The Tea – A Flash Fiction

 

 

“Soon”, she said to the impatient child, stirring the tea, the clouds of steam rising above the slightly cracked cup, slowly allowing the brew of roots to cool to a consumable temperature.
She tried not to frown, her eyes filled with a sorrowful smile as she nodded reassuringly at the little one.
This would have to make due for now, no breakfast available to fill their empty stomachs, but at least, the heat the tea brought would allow them to move about in the bitter cold.
For a moment, a flicker of despair rushed across her face, but she caught herself, adjusting it back to the well-practiced facade she had worn now far too long.

Copyright Claudia H. Blanton 2015

The above image is by the talented Samantha Aplin and is available on RedBubble. Please support independent artists, thank you.

The flash fiction was inspired by Lillie McFerrin’s flash fiction prompt “Steam”, and the #1word blog hop prompt “Soon”.

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