Tag Archives: Writers

Excerpt from A Walk to Barrow Hill

24 Thursday Sep 2015

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A Walk to Barrow Hill…

Ms Mandi Photo 1s

Silently, I let out a silent gasp or was it silent, by the way my daddy intently turned around, facing me and staring me down. All the while, Rose had not loosened up on her grip…not since we entered the hospital.

But now, as we stood in Mommy’s doorway, listening to the her machines peeping…I lost all my nerve. Tears, simultaneously sprang to my eyes, as I watched my mother’s lifeless body lying so quiet and still in the sterile bed.

Prying Rose’s had from mine, I ran. I ran down the hall, until I could run no more, falling down against the wall, out of breath and sobbing.

Written By: Ask Ms Mandi
Copyright 2015

Always Remembering 911

10 Thursday Sep 2015

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Always Remembering 911…

Ms Mandi Photo 1

September 11, 2001.  I remember the day as if it were yesterday.  I remember walking into my house around 8:30 am, turning on the television, and watching in horror as the second airplane crashed into the Twin Towers.

The thing that struck me most odd that morning was watching the individual white sheets of paper flutter around the streets of New York, thousands and thousands of paper.  I remembered thinking who had touched them, who had just recently stored them into the filing system, who was missing them?  It was an eerie thought to wonder about these thousands of sheets of papers coming from the Twin Towers.  I do not know why this particular image has stayed in my mind for all these years, but it has.  Perhaps my mind needed to fixate onto something less horrific than watching a city fall apart to an awful bout of terrorism.  The images we endured that day will forever be stuck in our minds.

September 11th is a very special and memorable day to my family and I because we named our second daughter after a Naval Contractor who had died on September 11th in the Pentagon.  We named her Julian Cooper.  She reminds us every year on 911 of the loss, we as individuals, families, and as a nation, had to endure on that fateful day fifteen years ago on September 11, 2001.

WE WILL NEVER FORGET!

Written By: Ask Ms Mandi
Copyright September 11, 2012

Dear Daddy…

25 Tuesday Aug 2015

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Ms Mandi Photo 1

Dear Daddy…it’s me. I haven’t seen you in a while. I miss you…why don’t you ever call me? Why don’t you write to me? It’s okay, I understand. I know you have other things to think about…more important things.

I was thinking…do you remember when I was a little girl and I couldn’t wait for you to get home from work? It felt like I waited all day for you to return home. I was so proud of you. I knew you loved me because you went to work to give me things. You told me this.

You bought me a bike, clothes, and you even built me a swing to play on. This was my favorite present because you made it out of love and it hung from my favorite tree in the backyard.

That was special. I felt so loved and knew you loved me. But then I grew up and things started to change. You and mommy started to argue all the time and you would storm out of the house mad, staying away for days.

Then one day, you didn’t come home anymore. Mommy said you wouldn’t be living with us anymore, but that you still loved me and always would. She explained that adult problems were not my problem and that you loved me even if you weren’t going to live with us anymore.

I believed her and I believed you, but you lied. You say we gave up on you, but in reality, you gave up on us…on me. You lied to me…but like I said, I understand. Do you know why? I understand because love is forgiving and you are my daddy and always will be…I just wished you knew this and tried to love me…just a little.

Written By: Ask Ms Mandi
Copyright August 2015

Featured Author

18 Tuesday Aug 2015

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A Walk up Barrow Hill:

Ms Mandi Photo 1

As the phone rang in the next room, chills crept up my spine to the nape of my neck…sending shivers down my arms.

I knew, even before answering the phone, who was on the other end. I had always had that sick sense of knowing who was calling before the phone actually started ringing. I don’t know what you would call it, but it still unnerved me.

“Rose, what’s wrong, Honey?” I asked with confidence.
“It’s happening again…Oh God, it’s happening again, Anna.” Before I could answer, the phone went dead.

Written By: Ask Ms Mandi
Copyright August 18, 2015

Happily Ever After…

11 Tuesday Aug 2015

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Happily ever after…

Ms Mandi Photo 1

I could still be married…

I could be laying next to my husband of twenty-nine years….I could not be alone.

I had the perfect life, planned out since I was six years old. After all, isn’t that what society teaches little girls…when you grow up, you will fall in love with your Prince Charming, just like Cinderella, get married, and live happily ever after in your big house, two kids, a dog, two cars, and the white picket fence.

As funny as it sounds, I had that life.

But the part they forgot to tell us, us little girls…is the part that what you see on the outside, isn’t always what is going on in the inside. Prince Charming is inattentive, neglectful, and flat-out mean. He hurts you in more ways than you would like to admit to anyone…including your self.

“But I love him!” You say. “And he loves me…doesn’t he?”

Then slowly, day by day, your fairy tale turns into a nightmare. He takes everything you have to give, leaving behind, only an empty shell. He took the best of you.

Like I said, I could be married, like my girlfriends who have been married just as long as I. Subsequently, I am the one who made the decision to get out…to live again. That is probably why it was such a hard decision because it was my decision…I didn’t want it to end, but I couldn’t live like that either….not anymore.

Written By: Ask Ms Mandi
Copyright August 2015

Early Morning Bliss

10 Wednesday Jun 2015

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Early Morning Bliss…
Ms Mandi Photo 1

Gently stirring, but not fully awake or even ready to wake up for the day, Jamie wondered. It was only five in the morning, but yet birds were up and singing. She didn’t only hear one soft melody, but an entire orchestra of magical music. It was simply amazing.

These little wonders in the world is what made life so precious, Jamie thought, yawning.

Happiness enveloped her, but not too soon. Just as quickly, she remembered. Her stomach grumbled. Her head ached. As quickly as the bliss had circuited her, it just as slowly began to disappear like a soft flowing breeze.

Written By: Ask Ms Mandi

Why Do We Write?

05 Friday Jun 2015

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Why do writers write?

We write to express ourselves.
We write to tell our personal stories.
We write because we are bored.
We write to teach others.
We write to help others.
We write because we want to be the next Stephanie Meyers.
We write because we don’t know what else to do.
We write because we are writers and that’s what writers do.
Ms Mandi Photo 1

Written By: Ask Ms Mandi

Hiking to Lone Pine Lake

16 Friday Jan 2015

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Hiking Mt. Whitney…

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A friend of mine asked me to go on a short hike to see Lone Pine Lake. For those that don’t know where Lone Pine Lake is…it’s in Lone Pine, CA. Where is Lone Pine, you ask…about four hours east of Orange County in the Sierra Mountains.

I have visited Lone Pine for years and have not visited Lone Pine Lake. My friend said it was a little hike to get to the lake. I was game. It sounded fun. I hike all the time. Boy was I in for a challenge.

Lone Pine Lake is about three hours up the mountain to Mt. Whitney. As we hiked, I saw other hikers with hiking apparel; such as, proper boots and walking sticks. I started to get worried as I wore my Doctor Martens and skipped breakfast. But I was ready for the hour hike…so my friend told me.

Two hours into the hike and straight up the ten thousand elevation mountain…I started to wonder how and if there was really a lake. I could not see where a lake could possibly be since we were hiking up the side of the mountain towards Mt. Whitney.

Two and half hours into the hike, my blisters were bleeding. My stomach was screaming with hunger and my patience had run out. I wanted to turn around because don’t forget…if it took us three hours to get up the mountain, it would take us another three to get back down.

As I was about to turn around…admitting to complete failure…I saw it. The beautiful and majestic lake. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was one of the most breathtaking views I have encountered. Did it make up for the bleeding blisters, hunger pains, weak legs, aching knees, and full bladder….maybe not, but it was worth it…

Written By: Ask Ms Mandi
Ms Mandi Photo 1

Excerpt from “A Walk to Gallow Hill”

19 Thursday Jun 2014

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“A Walk to Gallow Hill”

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Abigail could not remember a time when she had felt more alone. She tried not to think about it, the betrayal, but it was a reality and it was happening to her. Her life had been perfect. She wondered how her husband was doing?

A single tear slowly slide down her flushed cheek. She hadn’t been feeling well lately, but this was expected. Her face felt flushed as she slowly brushed a strand of her hair from across her face.

The footsteps startled her from her gentle thoughts of a better time. She tried not to remember where she was, but it was hard as she heard the keys rattle in the lock. Quietly, she said a prayer as she felt the stirring inside of her belly.

Written By: Ask Ms Mandi

A Poem

17 Saturday Aug 2013

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Ms Mandi Photo 1

Someday you will cry for me,

like I cried for you.

Someday you will miss me,

like I missed you.

Someday you will need me,

like I needed you.

Someday you will love me,

but I won’t love you.

Written By: An Anonymous Writer