Steven Paul Watson, Author

Blog Flash Day #12: Celebration

The shower washed away the guilt and the smile with it as Miranda began to dress in slacks and a simple white t-shirt. Blue watched her from the open door as she pulled the dark long sleeve shirt over her the white one. She tied her still wet hair back into a ponytail as she turned to the door.

“What say we celebrate Blue?”

The dog sat up starting to growl and yelp. “I’m thinking some butter pecan ice-cream.” She rushed past with the puppy at her ankles all the way to the kitchen, leaving the katana behind.

(98 Words)

Blog Flash Day #11: Greed

Miranda stood flicking the glass from her exposed knees and paid little attention to the fresh cuts they left behind. A wave of guilt washed over her even though she continued to smile. She almost felt greedy; her entire life was built on the death of her father and the people he was involved with. Her mother and uncle had spent their lives teaching her, keeping her safe from the threats that now hunted her. Sacrificing any chance they had at normalcy. But still she smiled, Blue close behind her as she went to wash off the morning’s relaxation.

(99 Words)

Blog Flash Day #10: Success

The glass cut deep into her palm, but Miranda continued to squeeze tightly through the pain. Fighting the growing anxiety in her stomach, she needed a release. She wanted a normal life. Though she hardly knew what normal even was, she just knew this was not even close to it.

She fiercely screamed. Dropping the glass from her hand, falling to her knees with her hands crossed against her stomach. Broken glass dug into her exposed knees but she paid little attention to the new cuts. For the first time in longer than she could remember, she smiled.

(95 Words)

Blog Flash Day #9: Journey

Miranda walked over to the shattered glass, she could see her jagged and distorted reflection in the pieces. With a deep breath, she crouched down to pick the biggest shard from the debris; she was just a couple months from her twenty fifth birthday. The reflection looking back at her was not one of youth, the supposed prime of her life but of one much older. She forced a smile looking at the tired eyes. The last five years had been an exhausting journey, and she could see it had not been kind to the young woman she saw.

(99 Words)

Blog Flash Day #8: Relaxing

Miranda tumbled across the mat lifting the knife from the floor and twirled it through the air for a near fatal hit on the dummy hanging from the exposed beam. Daylight had come and the skies were clear even though her mind was just as foggy as before.

She always found a fierce workout a better way to relax and clear her thoughts than a spa retreat could ever do. She approached the bench, clearing her forehead with a towel and looked at the busted glass still on the floor with a smile.

Five Sentence Fiction – Victory

He had been smiling for nearly ten minutes and yet neither of them had said a word for almost thirty; he knew he was gong to win. He had more patience than her and could see the frustration grow on her forced blank expression, then a grin of her own as she looked away from his eyes. He could even see her begin to blush even in the dimly lit room and it caused his smile to grow even bigger.

“Shut up.”

Before he could claim his prize, she was there, lips to his and both were again smiling.

——–

For more Five Sentence Fiction check out Lillie McFerrin’s blog!

Blog Flash Day #7: Sunset

Miranda sat on the deck with her weapon at her side, and Blue sleeping at her feet. She had more than the scenery on her mind. Her uncle had hobbled away, which always made her smile. He could move as swift as her unless he knew he was being watched, and then he seemed as if he would break with each step. Ashley who had gotten her in so much trouble when the two of them were younger, but she knew her laughter was now lost. And her father, the reason for the life she had been forced to lead.

(100 Words)

Bells in the Rain (Visual Dare)

My flash fiction for this weeks Visual Dare!

Anne-Lynn stood with her forehead on the glass; the bells rang in her ears as she watched the rain pour down on the other side. She bounced her ring finger on the glass and smiled each time it made the bells chime.

“Miss you. Miss you so much.” She whispered as she closed her eyes. Again she bounced the ring against the glass and smiled through the tears. It had been years since the car accident, she still remembered his mother’s voice filled with hesitation, dread, and sorrow. The accident was two days after he proposed.

(96 Words)

Blog Flash Day #6: Reading

Blog Flash 2012

Blog Flash 2012 Day #6: Reading

Her uncle pulled away after their hug, he was not an easy man to read. She had not spent enough time around him to know his tells. “What aren’t you telling me?”

He paused with a sigh, “they found your friend Ashley this morning…”

Miranda paused, “And you thought it was me?” She could hear Ashley’s laugh even now.

“They are looking for you it is only a matter of time before they find you.”

Miranda crossed the room, Blue at her heels; she picked the sheath of her weapon from the carpet. “And I’ll be ready for them.”

(99 Words)

Lists and Goals for 2012

Is it really August already??? Really hard to believe as this year seems to be flying by. A lot has changed, and a lot going on in my life especially of late. I can’t remember a time, especially recently, where I have been as up beat and happy as I currently am.
At the first of the year I made a goals list for 2012, just like I have so many times in the past. Though this year’s list was bigger than any previous years coming in at twelve, with several others back ups for the list. Plus I have the bonus of a second list, of “22 things” that I could do now (started by Angie Richmond, you should check out her blog and her art). I figured with the year half gone; it is a good time to take a look at those two lists to see just where I am at.

Of the twelve goals, as of now I have only been able to knock one off the list. To complete a rough draft of a new idea, I literally just did that with JuNoWriMo (click here for a sneak peak at that). Of the others on the list, several are actually close to complete. I had a goal of reading eight books, I just finished my fifth a couple weeks back so I should have no problem knocking this one off. I am only fifteen pounds away from my weight goal for the year (even if I don’t reach it, I still consider this a win; in the past year and two months I have lost around 53 pounds). I am positive I will complete several others in the next six months.

There are two things on the list of twelve I can pretty much mark out as ‘fail’. First is “WiP 500”. I kept pace for the first month and half but after that I fell into a writing slump, a slump I did not get out of until June. The other is one I just never got around to doing and that was to go see an Eastern Kentucky Drillers game (arena football).

The 22 things list is a bit different as they are not really goals but a list of things I could be doing now, no excuses.

So the first two things on my list – to Draw/Paint more, and I have been successfully doing this. Really only the one thing completed, and a couple sketches in different levels of completion. But just doing that much is an improvement over how much I’ve done over the past few years.

3/4 – to run the extra mile/exercise more, and I was doing really well with this one up until the heat got to us.

7 – Confess my thoughts/feelings…yes I will admit it has lead to less over thinking… And my have a direct influence on my current happiness. 😉

9 – Take a compliment – I think I am much better t this.

12 – Take more photographs – If you follow me on Facebook you know this one I have been doing a lot of.

13 – Edit! UGH!!! Do I need to say any more about this one? But really I have made some progress on my Steampunk novel since the first of July but not as much as I would like. And it is entirely my own fault. I just can’t seem to break through and get into editing at the moment.

15 – Call, talk on the phone – This is another I can count in the yes category, especially the past month.

That is really the only ones I have anything to say about….