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The challenge this week was to write a piece about what is in the round box?  It could be any style/format and the box could big or little.  I hope you like what I came up with and it leaves you feeling inspired.

The Round Box

By Melissa Davis

He couldn’t believe this little box was all he had left from his father.  There was no money, no house, nothing.  It figured the old man would take everything else to his grave or leave it to someone else.  All these years he had listened to the man rant and rave about every minute decision he had ever made.

“Why did you do that Thomas?  You’re working there? Can’t you find a better job?  I guess you don’t have the skills for a VP.  Why are you marrying that girl?  You’re mother was so much better.”  All the while the old man would rub his finger across the small round mahogany box, as if every inch of this thing was so much more interesting than his own son.

Thomas pocketed the box in his jacket the lump was the only evidence that he carried it with him.  Thomas left the funeral home and followed behind the hearse in the long black limousine.   He couldn’t help how final this all felt.  His father had been tough, but his gruffness had helped him become the man that he was today: strong, independent, confident, a hard worker above all else.  He couldn’t help but put his hand in his pocket and touch the only thing he had left of the man.

A year after the funeral he was standing in his office rubbing the side of the box he had perched on his book shelf. He was curious about what the box held inside, but he had never dared open it.  He had never once questioned why it was so important to his father or why this box seemed to hold his father’s attention any time they were in the same room.  He wanted to, but he just could not open it.  There was a dull hum of anticipation, like a sad boy staring in the window at a puppy he longed to have, but yet would never experience.  He could not help it anymore.  He pulled the box out of his jacket and heard it creak open as he lifted the lid.

Thomas took a deep breath as he peered inside its wooden walls.  Tucked inside was every milestone of his life.  There were pictures of his laughter, his smiles, his trophies, his diplomas, his wedding day, and finally his children.  Thomas shook his head in disbelief.  All those years while the old man had been so hard on him, all those times he thought he couldn’t do anything right and all the instances where he sought this man’s approval never reaching it and this is what the man kept company with?  A tear puckered in the corner of his eye lid.  He had told himself he would never cry, but the floodgates opened and his sobbed silently into his sleeve.  His father had never told his son how much he cared.  He had never shown any inkling that he even knew what he had accomplished.  As far as Thomas knew, his father didn’t even know how to do anything but put him down.  It was as if he were seeing his father for the first time, the man who cared deeply, but knew not how to show it.

Thomas shut the lid knowing that he had learned a lesson that day.  He did not want to be like his father.  He wanted his children to know how much he loved them every day of his life.  He opened his phone and dialed his office.  “Maggie?  Please put me down as out of town for the next week.  I have some vacation time saved up and I need to spend some quality time with my family.”  He heard the shocked gasp on the other side before Maggie followed through with his order.

It was time to live.  Time to slow down and enjoy the road he had worked hard to build.  He would never forget how things had been with his father, but he knew now why he had been left this box.  The best things in life are not the moments you keep inside.  They are the moments you live with the ones you love and share with the world around you.  He would learn from his father’s mistakes and become the father he knew his children deserved.  It all started with an “I love you”.   No matter what.

Today is a day of reflection for me.  I spent most of yesterday trying to wear my child out so that she would sleep through the night.  I skipped my Benadryl last night so I would hear her if she woke up.  She did not wake, but I could not sleep.  At least I had a book to read and I enjoyed every minute of it.

 If you like young adult romance novels with a paranormal twist you will certainly love Remember The Eyes, by Beth Muscat. My review is up on Amazon as well as at Smashwords. Definitely worth the read!  I am so inspired by this author’s words as her writing actually gives me hope.  I, like Ms. Muscat, love to use imagery and a poetic voice when I write.  It was great to see someone else with a similar graceful style and wonderful to see it as something not only readable, but something that translates to beauty easily.  She may not know it yet, but not only has she inspired to dig deep and finish my novel, I am certain to publish anything I put my mind to.

All in all, a sleepless night was well worth it when you have such a talented writer to keep you company.

This week’s challenge was to use the word dream or the idea of a dream.  I challenged myself to write out something different than I normally would.  I hope you all enjoy!

In a Heartbeat

By Melissa Davis

Beams of light streamed from isolated apartment windows as she perched on the archway.  The footsteps echoed around her as she waited.  She breathed in the darkness around her faint and its taste was sweet.  He had followed her from the bar after she had brushed him off.  She had known that he would.  She bit her upper lip in anticipation then ran her tongue along its curve tasting the blood that welled up in response.  She reminded herself to stay patient, the hunt was not always about the chase.

She could smell the adrenaline on him as he walked closer to where she was hidden.  The beat of his heart was the most intoxicating part of him.  Where there were hearts beating there was blood pumping.  He was not prepared for her to step out of the archway.  He turned and faced her with a cynical smile on his face.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out the switch knife he had hidden inside.

“You can run, but you can’t hide.  If you put up a fight this will end badly for you,” he warned her as he grabbed her wrist.

“But I love a good fight,” she replied as she twisted her arm so hard it yanked him to the ground.  He rose swiftly ready to lunge at her.  Her movement was so quick it was like a flash of lightning in the sky as she dodged him, picked up the closest heavy item and bashed him on the head with it.

Blood pooled around a gash on his head and she swiped at it with long talon fingertips.  She brought her fingers underneath her nose and inhaled the iron scent.  She ripped off a piece of her shirt and wrapped it around his head.  She would not let good blood go to waste.  She wrapped her arms around him and picked him up easily with immortal strength.  She jostled him slightly before pushing off the ground.  She flew swiftly through the night sky like a blur through the shadowy night.

It took just minutes to reach her fire escape.  Her window was always open when she was on the hunt.  This one would last her a few more weeks before she moved on to the next.  She pushed him through the window and she heard him thud on the ground below.  She climbed through the window effortlessly, the tip of her black boots tapping him lightly.

She placed him on the bed and stretched his arms out to his sides.  She brought the machine over to his side and the iv needle sliced through the skin in his arm.  She watched for the first drip of blood run slowly from his vein to the bag hanging by the bed.  She ran her finger along his neck, sensing the pulse at his neck.  She moaned longingly when she could feel the pulse inside her ebbing in rhythm.  She tilted his head back and used her sharp nail to pierce a small hole where his neck met his shoulder.  She lowered her mouth and tasted the warm trickle.  She suckled at his neck, almost writhing in ecstasy as she filled herself deep.  She drank for a little while and forced herself to pull away.  She could not allow herself to drain him or she would have to hunt again tomorrow.

She looked up and saw that the bag connected to the iv was swelling like the belly of a mosquito.  She forced herself to concentrate on changing the bag and then walked away from the bed.  She paced the room several times before she could see the last of his life slipping away.  She carried him to the tub and closed the curtains around him.  She would deal with him in the evening.  She put the blood in the freezer and hid the equipment in the closet.  She lowered the blinds and closed the curtains that blocked the heat of the sun’s rising rays.  She pulled back the covers and climbed inside to sleep.

The phone woke her unreasonably and she rubbed her aching temples at the intrusion.  She pushed the covers away from her and glared at the phone.  It was bad enough having such a bizarre dream.  She picked up the phone and gave a hoarse greeting to the other end.

“Hello?”

“Jessica did I wake you?  It’s afternoon.  Why are you still asleep?” Her mother asked her in a worried voice.

“It’s nothing mom.  I just haven’t been feeling like myself lately.”  She pushed the covers away and walked towards the bathroom.  She might as well get a bath started to help her wake up for the day.  She pulled back the curtains and shrieked.  The phone slipped from her fingers and hit the floor with a sharp crack.

“Jessica?  Are you alright?”

She fell to her knees and shock jolted through her body for right in front of her was the man in her dream.  He was completely pale and lifeless.  This couldn’t be!  She ran out of the room and opened her closet doors.  She had no idea where the iv pole and hanging tubes had come.  She slammed the doors shut and shook her head.

“No, no!  This just can’t be.”  She ran to the kitchen and opened the freezer.  There were three bags filled with red liquid just now starting to feel cold to the touch.  She went back to the bathroom and heard her mother’s voice on the phone. “Mom, I’m sorry.  I slipped on the floor.  Everything’s fine.  I just bruised my pride.  Look I need to let you go.  I really need a shower.  I’ll talk to you later.”

The Fall

By Melissa Davis

The leaves were turning auburn when she got the news in the fall.  She had held her breath and crossed her fingers before she dared dream this moment would come, but it had.  The moment she found out about the little one growing inside her, her dreams spread wings and flew higher than she ever imagined.  She almost had given up on this lifetime.  She knew that her past lives were filled with desperation as she had never had the joy of a child in any of them.  She was not going to let this one go.  She would do whatever she could to make sure this one survived.

She did everything she was supposed to and then some.  She cut out all the caffeine, even though she had guzzled it down since she had entered college.  She avoided the lunchmeat, the pineapples, even the peanut butter.  She took all her vitamins each day just as she should.  She did it all with a grace and love that came so easy to her.  She wanted more than anything to hold a child of her own.

Her life before was traumatic.  There was no other way to describe it.  When she had the chance to leave it all behind she left and never came back to where it started.  She met a truly wonderful man that loved her more than she ever thought she deserved.  They had come together so easily and their differences made them closer.  He was everything she needed and sometimes more than she ever thought she would ever have.  They even had the fairytale wedding that she never let herself imagine.  When she was finally safe, she had done so much healing so that someday she would be a better mother.  She wanted her child to never feel afraid, to be safe in her own skin and know that she was more than good enough, she was everything.

The day her water broke she entered the hospital excited to be there, happy to greet the nurses, and anxious to get the show on the road.  She stayed calm, as calm as still water on a morning lake.  A few hours of pitocin, the repeated placement of the epidurals, none of these things ruined her calm.  She would have a child, she would not let her past lives predict her future.  When she was finally ready to push, she pushed with every breath in her body, but it was not enough.  Her child was not going to come out naturally.  The doctor was called and she was prepped for her first major surgery of her life.

She held her breath when her child was pulled out of her.  She tensed up waiting for the most important sound in the world.  She almost cried when she heard it.  The first audible wail from her tiny little girl.  She was so beautiful, tiny and wrinkled.  It was never so easy to fall in love, but this little miracle was lifetimes of dreams and she was worth every one.  Dreams do come true.  They mold and shape and turn into things you never imagined and sent you down paths you were afraid to walk.  She would never let her past define her future again.

To Live

By Melissa Davis

It had been years since she had ventured outside, too afraid to feel the light since he had left her broken.  Every day she died a little more.  If she had just listened she would not have been trapped inside waiting for someone to rescue her.  If she went now there would be no turning back.

She opened the windows and looked at the world perched down below.  She glanced at the sun blinking through the clouds while she breathed in the fresh air blowing in her face.   This was it!  Time to take a chance and just let it go.

She opened her arms and dove.  When she thought her life was through the wind took over.  Her body soared through the air.  She felt its gentle touch as her spirit ascended.  She had not expected to be uplifted.  When she thought her flight was over, the wind blew her farther and landed her safely on the ground.  She could not help but feel relieved.  She had not expected to survive, only to end the suffering.  This outcome was entirely different.

“You’re safe,” a voice said on the breeze.

“Who are you?”  She asked it.

“I’m everyone and no one,” it responded.  “You’re free.”

“Free?  How can I be free?  He will hunt me still.” She replied.  Her eyes filled with tears.  She did not want to think about what he would do to her.

“Yes, he’ll try.  But you have an important task ahead of you,” the wind replied.

“Task?”  If anyone saw her talking to something unseen they would think she was mad.

“Live. Teach.  Grow.  Have courage to live through this moment and find a way to get free.  Teach others the darkness you have seen and to do more than survive it.  Grow into a woman who lives without fear.  There is much more courage in you than you ever realized.”

She closed her eyes as one last breeze blew across her face before everything was still.  When she opened them she was no longer sitting on a hill.  She was huddled on the floor looking up at him.  She took a deep breath, gathered her courage, and lunged at him.  She would live.  Not one piece more of her would die tonight.  She took a deep breath and pushed at him with all her might, so hard that he fell over onto the stool behind him and cracked his head on the ledge of the table behind him.  She watched in slow motion as his head bounced on impact.  She looked at the man slumped over on the floor and put her hand to her mouth wiping her own blood away.  She picked up the phone, called for help and waited for the arrival.  It did not matter what happened next.  None of it mattered anymore.  She opened the window as she waited.   The wind blew gently on her face and it was liberating.

Today I look back on a day that was one of  the darkest I have lived through.  I remember going to school and getting read for my first hour class.  When they walked in the door they were all abuzz about something.  Not one of them seem to greet me as they were certainly absorbed in the topic.  I asked them what was going on and they told me that a bomb had hit the World Trade Center.  I was taken aback.  I later found out that it was actually planes that had crashed into the building and it was happening to other places too, that this evil had been planned for months.

On the radio on the ride home that night they had already put together remixes of people commented, crying and screaming their sorrow and transfixed them into songs that were already playing on the radio.  Everywhere I looked, everywhere I listened it was there.  I could not get away from the horror and yet at the same time I found myself actively glued to every newscast.  We all did.  It was the first time in many years that I had actually found myself watching the news and it certainly wasn’t for a good reason.

That week I found my students asking me if they were safe.  It was the first time I cried.  I did not intend to cry in front of them and while was just a few isolated tears it made me feel weak.  I wanted to tell them they were safe, but no one knew if we were.  I did the best that I could to tell them we should be safe.  Who would want to bomb our little city?  I found myself thankful to be part of a small city in Illinois and not one well-traveled, but I still didn’t feel safe.  I thought at the time we would never feel safe again.

Will we now treat this day like Pearl Harbor to be remembered as just part of our history?  Has it been written into new History Books? I hope we have learned to be thankful for our lives and peaceful in the moment.  I hope we learn that time can heal and we no longer have to feel the sorrow.  We can remember those that have passed and pay tribute to their memories.