Wordbound Wednesday: March 22

Pick a tweet from a friend and find a way to incorporate all words into your scene.

(I don't have any friends that use Twitter that I know of, so I found one I liked from someone I follow instead!)

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Dominique was pissed off. She slammed her purse down on the table and flung herself into the bed, fuming. How dare they! She had been employed in the schools for years and they were forcing her out just like that? 'Budget cuts my ass,' she thought angrily. The principal had been looking for a reason to get rid of her for ages, just because she didn't kiss his ass like everyone else. She actually stood up for herself and her kids. And now she was out of a job. Realizing the severity of her situation, she began to cry as the door opened and her fiance Miguel walked in.

"Hey beautiful," he said, closing the door behind him. How was work?"

"They fired me," Dominique said wiping her eyes and sitting up. Miguel whipped his head around, looking at her.

"They did what?" he asked incredulously. He hurried over and sat next to her. "What happened?"

"Budget cuts," Dominique replied sarcastically. "But that cabron of a principal has been looking for a reason to get rid of me for ages, we all knew that. This just gave him an excuse."

"What about the union?" here fiance asked.

"They can't help me, not when we don't have the money. That asshole governor just keeps taking money away from us for her own stupid agendas."

"But you can get unemployment right?" asked Miguel. "Mi amor, we can't afford this apartment if both of us don't have jobs."

"I know okay?" Dominique snapped back, jumping up. "Trust me! I know! I know we're poor and we'll never get out of here and I thought I was secure! I just, I don't know what to do." She began to cry again, sinking to her knees. Miguel walked over and knelt in front of her.

"Dominique, it's going to be okay," he said gently. "We've been through worse, you know that."

"But we jut got done with that," she said, leaning into his chest. "We finally got ourselves out of that shitty apartment into a nice one and I can't imagine giving it up."

"We won't have to. You'll go down and file for unemployment, and I'll pick up some more shifts at the restaurant. Maybe you can still work, just at another school." Dominique nodded.

"It's just, I'll miss my kids," she said. "I finally got to know them and they were beginning to trust me. Everything was going so well. And now they're going to be split up and put in other classrooms. I'm just worried about them."

"I know you are," Miguel said, rubbing her shoulders. "But they're young. They can adapt. We'll be fine. Don't you worry okay mi amor. We can get through anything."

Dominique looked up at Miguel, smiling for the first time all day.

"I got lucky when I met you," she said.

"No, I got lucky." Miguel leaned down and kissed her. "Now, what do you say we see what's for dinner."

"Well, all I need is a glass of wine right now," Dominique replied getting up and walking to the pantry. She opened it and pulled out a bottle of red wine. "Where did you put the wine key?"

"In that drawer," Miguel answered pointing vaguely behind him as he looked in the freezer. Dominique rolled her eyes and opened drawers until she found it. Uncorking the wine, she grabbed a plastic cup from the cupboard and poured herself a glass. Meanwhile, Miguel pulled out a plastic bag.

"I just found some tamales your mom gave us for Christmas," he said. "What do you say?"

"Sounds good," Dominique replied, taking a long drink from her cup. She grabbed the bottle and topped off the cup. Miguel put the tamales on a plate and placed them in the microwave. He sat down on the bed and Dominique sat next to him, giving him the cup. He drank from it and gave it back to her.

"You'll see Dominique," he said as she leaned on his shoulder. "You have more gusto and more life in you than anyone can imagine. You'll get another job faster than you can say vamanos. Dominique smiled and took another long drink of wine.


(Unfortunately this story is based on a real life disaster scenario going on in the state of New Mexico, with Governor Susana Martinez taking more and more money from the school system and vetoing bills that give teachers more rights and freedoms to teach and take time off when they're sick without being penalized. There have been rumors going around of having a 4-day school week instead because there is not enough money to keep them open 5 days a week. Personally, I cannot wait until 2018 when we can oust that bitch and put someone in who gives a shit about us being the last state in education. Of course, with the new Secretary of Education, I doubt public schools will be around much longer.)

Wordbound Wednesday: March 15

A character is inspired by something they can't see.

So I was going to do my usual creative thinking for this prompt, but after what happened today I needed to write this.

Today we got back our midterms for our Applied Orthopedics class. I was nervous because I didn't feel prepared and the test left me wanting to cry. I was given a small glimmer of hope when I saw that the average was a 93, but that was crushed when I got my test back. I was a full 20 points below the average, and in my program, that constitutes a failing grade. As someone who isn't used to seeing that score, it was pretty hard, especially considering the average. Actually it was hard purely because of the average if the rest of the class hadn't done well it wouldn't have sucked so much. I felt like an absolute moron. What the hell was I doing there? I wanted to go into Orthopedics in the field. How was a supposed to do that when I couldn't even pass the damn midterm? And the worst part? The section I did the worst on was clinical application. So, as is my normal reaction to things like this, the tears came. And I couldn't stop them. I got sympathy and comfort from my classmates, and assurance that this wasn't going to cause me to fail the class, but at that moment I still felt stupid.

At this point, I have no idea what my grade is. I can't see it. And I won't be able to see it until they're posted at the end of the semester. All I have are percentages. My best friend did the math and as it turns out I can still pass the class with an A even if I do terrible on the midterm and final because of our other assignments. That being said, this would require me to get perfect scores on the other assignments, and I can already say that it won't happen. I'm good but not that good. I'll get As though, that much I know. Anyways, at some point my boyfriend came into the classroom during lunch and coaxed me into leaving and going on a walk with him (he's in the same graduate program I'm in but a year ahead). We talked it out and here comes the inspiration.

This entire semester, my focus has been on Neuroanatomy. I was told by pretty much EVERYONE that Neuro was the class to watch out for. So that's what I've been doing. And it's paid off. The "legendary" test our instructor boasted about was the one I've done the best on so far. But I was so focused on that class that I didn't really realize that my real battle would be with Applied Orthopedics. Plus I've had this instructor before and she's always talked up her hard midterms and finals when they've not been that bad. I studied, but we already have as many power point presentations as we had the entire semester last fall. (We had 16 last semester, and already have 15 halfway through this one!) But I'm licking my wounds, getting the five stages of grief out of the way. My boyfriend says he'll help me from now on and I'm officially going to start doing the reading (I'm really going to get the blame for not doing it, but honestly, the amount of reading assigned in each class is BEYOND ridiculous. Plus it's supplemental if you need clarification on class material, and I managed 4 As and 1 B+ with minimal reading last semester).

Graduate school is tough, and this semester I've definitely been feeling off, mostly because our class dynamic has changed and I'm realizing the people that I liked before are actually kind of awful and annoying and seriously you need to chill out! But if this is what I need to get back on the horse and kick ass, then so be it.

Anyways, I needed to write that for this week's prompt, and it feels good to get it all out.

Also as a post script, this image is proof that I have the best friends. Basically one of my closest friends bet me a dollar that I would do well on the midterm. He lost. But he still found a way to make me smile. He's the best.

Playing Catch Up! Word prompt March 8

After this prompt I will be officially caught up! Unfortunately, this will be kind of challenging for me. I'm just gonna wing it and see what happens.

Use numbers in an interesting way

She stared at the piece of paper in front of her, her mind going blank. Her heart beat faster and she began to feel anxiety bubbling up. She knew what she had to do. Just solve the equation before her competitor. But she couldn't move with everyone staring at her! She looked back up at the scree where the equation stared down at her menacingly.

Solve for x:


She took a shaky breath and picked up her pencil. Across from her, her opponent was already hard at work. Hand shaking, she wrote the equation down on the paper and began the problem.

"Subtract 4 from both sides."

5x = -5
2

"Multiply both sides by 2."

5x = -10

"Divide by 5 which gives me-"

Ding!

She grit her teeth in disappointment. She had hesitated too long. She had let her team down. This was the deciding factor and she had blew it!

"Contestant Kelly?" the judge asked.

"The answer is 2!" the other girl said confidently. Her heart leaped in her chest.

"I'm sorry, that's not the right answer," the judge said sympathetically. He looked at her. Contestant Hernandez, if you answer correctly, your school wins the competition.

She took a deep breath in her chest, willing herself to speak.

"The answer is -2," she said meekly.

"Correct! Congratulations to the winners, the Zuni Elementary Math Badgers!" There was a cheer behind her as the rest of her team came forward to hug her. She let out a sigh of relief and looked out in the audience, where her parents were beaming at her with joy.

Playing catch up! Word prompt from March 1

Take an author photo and write yourself a bio.

Not my best selfie, but whatever.

Kathryn S. is a 27-year-old Occupational Therapist in training. She is currently a full time graduate student learning all that she can and trying her best to be a total nerd in the mean time. When she's not frantically studying Neuroanatomy or writing epic tons of papers and projects, she enjoys spending hours on YouTube, browsing Facebook, playing Final Fantasy online, reading, and writing for pleasure. Kathryn currently lives in New Mexico with her boyfriend, roommates, and longs for a pet to call her own.

Playing Catch Up! Word Prompt from February 22

Man, field work really tired me out! Not to mention I've been spending my time trying to write the million and a half papers we have due in the next month so I can focus on Camp NaNoWriMo. Anyways, here's another word prompt! (Note: It's a spin-off scene from a book series I'm writing).

A character realizes something as they look up into the night sky

"Britannia, come look at this! They're finally pulling out of Vietnam!" Devon walked over and poked his older sister where she sat at the dinner table. Britannia started.

"What? What is it Devon?" she asked.

"Look!" Devon pointed at the television, where a camera was showing a crowd of soldiers and refugees being lifted onto a plane and flown away.

"Isn't it great?" Devon asked excitedly. Britannia tried to smile, but it only came out as a grimace.

"No, it is. It's a great victory for those who've lost their loved ones to this pointless war," she said.

"Britannia, you should be more excited!" Devon crossed his arms and turned away from her, walked back to the couch. "You know, since you got back from Washington D.C. you've been really moody. What happened out there?"

"What happened?" Britannia looked up and saw in a flash what had happened. She gasped. "It, it just got violent Devon that's all."

"Did you see people die?"

"The hell kind of question is that?" Britannia stood up quickly, looking angry. "Who asks that kind of question Devon. You have no idea what happened or what I went through!" She walked quickly to the front door and flung herself outside, slamming it behind her.

She walked halfway down the steps and hopped up onto the granite side rails, laying back. She sighed and brushed away the tears from her face. She had not meant to yell at her brother like that, but he had no idea what she had been through. She closed her eyes, trying to keep down the sobs that were rising. She could see it now, people running and screaming, magic lightning streaking across the air and the four people who meant the most to her disappearing in a flash. She had lost Christana shorty after when she disappeared...and ended right back in San Francisco. Her power to control the weather had been stripped from her. Britanna let out a quiet sob and sat up, rubbing her eyes roughly.

"No business crying about it," she said to herself. "We lost the war, and as far as I know I'm the only one of us that survived. I just need to forget that it ever happened and move on."

But how could she moved on? After everything that she had seen and gone through? After the people she had met and had come to know and love? How could she forget how it felt to save the universe?

Britannia laid back down, gazing up at the night sky which was clearing up from a recent storm. She looked up at the stars, and then gasped.

She saw not one, not two, but six shooting starts streak across the night sky. Sitting up, she looked down, realizing something. A smile began to creep across her face.

"It's not over yet, is it?"

Playing Catch Up! Wordbound Prompt from Feb. 15

Basically grad school hooked it's claws in me and did not let go! This week is my week long field work (clinicals basically) and while I still have tons of assignments to get done, I have a whole other week off to do them. In other words, it's time to play catch up! P.S. I LOVE MY FIELD WORK.

Put a character in an abandoned building or space

Annette cursed quietly as her stiff fingers dropped the match she was holding. Fumbling around in the dark, she picked it up and attempted to light it again. She knew that she risked the dictatorship finding her if she lit a fire, but she also knew that she could not survive the frozen winter night without it. It was a risk she was willing to take if it meant keeping her fingers and toes.

With a hiss, the match flared up. Annette quickly dropped it onto the pile of wood and old newspapers in front of her and began to blow softly on the flames, trying to keep the fire from going out. Soon, a small fire was crackling. Annette put her hands over the flames, sighing in relief as she felt the cold leave them. She looked up at the smoke now ascending through a hole in the ceiling of the abandoned building she had taken refuge in. A pang of worry ignited in her stomach, but she pushed it aside. The fire would only be lit for a moment. She would warm up, eat, and then move on.

Opening up her pack beside her, she took out a protein bar wrapped in foil and took a bite, wincing at the bitter taste. Protein bars were awful, but one could keep you going for hours. Chewing, she stared into her little fire, thinking of how she had come to be in this situation.

It had started with the dictatorship coming to power, overthrowing the once established democracy. At first it seemed like the dictatorship would leave the people alone and only focus on expanding the borders by invading the neighboring countries. And then the raids started. Those who had come to her country as refugees were quickly rounded up and either deported or placed into prisoner death camps. The people attempted to riot but were quickly silenced when their new leader set the military on them. The casualties were devastating. Soon the military began dropping bombs on entire cities, regardless of whether or not they supported the new government. One of those cities had once been Annette's home. Her family had been killed and she was forced to flee with the others towards the northern border in hopes of finding refuge. But they had been separated when they encountered a blizzard.

Annette looked up suddenly, her eyes wide with horror. She heard the unmistakable sound of a helicopter approaching. Cursing, she grabbed a handful of snow and threw it over the fire, which went out at once. Stuffing the protein bar in her mouth, she grabbed her bag and fled from the building. She looked around frantically, searching for a place to hide. The helicopter grew louder. She could see the search lights moving through the buildings and the streets, looking for rebels.

Turning, she saw a small shed, it's door handing by a hinge. She threw herself inside and yanked the door closed as much as she could. She was just in time. She huddled in a corner as the searchlight went over the shed. Hardly daring to breathe, Annette peaked through an opening and saw the helicopter heading south, the large red logo slashed on the side of the new regime. Sighing with relief, she waited until she could no longer hear it, then opened the shed and walked through the abandoned town towards the northern border, hoping to not only find the others, but safety and salvation.