Year End Summary

Year Total: 992,075 words
Increase Over Year Prior: 332,085 words
Novel Total: 13
Increase Over Year Prior: 2
Longest Novel: Finding Honour (121,331 words 200+ pages)
Shortest Novel: Embittered Competitor (60,000 words 100+ pages)

Summary of the Year:
Well, over last year, a lot of things changed. Last year all of my novels were 60,000 words, and this year I wrote my longest novel ever, breaking the 100,000 word and 200 page marks for the first time, and I also tried my hand at writing thrillers for the first time, and I must admit that Fox on the Sly — the first one, from May — wasn't as successful as it could've been, and Awry and Turmoil — from July — weren't the best either, but they were improving, however Avalanche Risk and Finding Honour — August and October — were in my mind quite phenomenal, although over the past two years I've written twenty one first drafts, one second draft, and two third to fifth drafts (I'm not sure) and I've got ten to seventeen first drafts and a second draft for next year, and more ideas coming all the time. Other changes that happened were that I changed from writing 3,000 words a day to 6,000 words a day, although for a couple of days I also did 9,000-12,000 words a day, although I don't think I'll ever be switching to always writing 9,000 or more words a day. I also quit writing on Sundays as it was severely inhibiting my social life to do so. And I also wrote more novels than I'd planned on, and successfully. I even had my shortest turnaround from plot/character/storyline creation to novel being written with Avalanche Risk which was created in June and written in August. Most of my other ideas ferment longer, like Fox on the Sly, which has been going on in my head for about five years or so, and  Undetected Activity from March — although on about its fifth draft — has been in progress for about seven years. The biggest change, of course, was that I started this blog, and I thank everyone — whether or not I may know you — for reading it, and I hope you will join me again next year.
Most all of the novels this year were quite good, with a few surprises. Suddenly Alone was surprisingly easy to write, I had thought I would have to be pulling the words out with great force, but it was actually quite good. More of them will likely be revised than utterly rewritten, whereas last year I think more will be utterly rewritten than revised.
Next year I plan on continuing to up the ante, and possibly with a blast, as the novel I'm planning for January just continues to spew forth good ideas and it may break my longest novel record by more than 50,000 words (or maybe even up to just about more than 100,000 words longer, I'll try to restrain myself, though). I've got eleven of the novels picked, and I could do up to eighteen, depending on how long my January novel goes to.
And next year I'll be participating in National Novel Writing Month, and Camp NaNoWriMo again, as usual, and that leads me to announce that I succeeded in being a NaNoWriMo

Now, being as I don't write in December (I do need to rest sometime) I will be posting again on December 31 with a preview to January's novel, and I hope you all have a great Christmas season (and Thanksgiving for all US residents) and will join me again for a whole year of noveling, and maybe even some new fun stuff ; )

R.A.

Suddenly Alone: Day 9

Word Total: 60,002

Year to Date: 992,075

Summary of Events:
Chapter 19:
Myles came over to buy the combine and Sofia told him she'd 'accidentally' shredded the land rental agreement and got him to bring her a new contract and she filled it out differently, she also got him to pay full price for the combine. She then took the cheque from Myles and deposited it into the bank.
Chapter 20:
Both Axel and Sofia spent the rest of the day considering the future of their relationships with each other and what to do about them and what would be proper to do. Axel finally admitted that he was quite in love with Sofia.

Excerpt of the Day:
""Now into the study," Axel said.
"I don't want him to know you're here," Sofia said sharply.
"He doesn't," Axel replied. "He won't know until he comes into the room."
"I don't even want him to see you there," Sofia said. "Wait in here."
Sofia shoved Axel into the powder room across from the study.
"But–"
"I'll keep the study door open," Sofia replied.
"Sofia–"
"Please," Sofia replied. "Just do it this way."
Axel sighed and closed the door slightly. Sofia hurried to the door at the sound of the knock and opened it. Myles stood before her. He smiled in a cunning looking way.
"Well, hello," Myles said. "Shall we go to the office?"
"Yes," Sofia replied. She led the way, taking deep breaths and working diligently to keep herself calm.
Stepping inside the study, Sofia sat down.
"So now you're asking six figures for this combine, it's almost the same as someone asking three figures for the rent of a field, don't you agree?" Myles asked.
"It's similar," Sofia replied.
"You gave me rent for your field at two figures," Myles said. "Surely you can reduce the figures of the combine price by one at least. Say we take that three off the front? Or maybe we should take the zero off of the end?"
"I think we should take the zero off the end," Sofia replied.
"So that would mean that you're only asking me for thirty nine thousand dollars," Myles said.
"But what do we do with that zero we took off the end?" Sofia asked.
Myles laughed. "We put it at the front," he replied. "Zero hundred thirty nine thousand, doesn't that sound like a nice sum?"
"Well," Sofia said, taking up the spreadsheet. "I have this number here in red, and I need about three hundred and eighty five thousand dollars for it to go away. Zero hundred means nothing, therefore I'd only be getting thirty nine thousand dollars, and leaves me still with three hundred forty six thousand dollars in the red. I think it would be a better idea to put the zero after the thirty nine."
"We could do that," Myles said.
He pulled out his chequebook and quickly laced his signature across the proper line at the bottom of the cheque, and then wrote her name in not-too-bad penmanship across the line of the recipient, and the date in the corner.
"So now you said thirty nine thousand," Myles said.
"But that doesn't work with the extra zero," Sofia said. "I said thirty nine, and then we take the zero from the end which was put on the front and put it after the thirty nine, and then we put in the comma and then the other three zeros. You can't had four zeros after a comma, it can only be three."
"But that's three hundred and ninety thousand!" Myles protested.
Sofia smiled. "And you said you could do it," she replied.
"You– you–!" Myles sputtered.
"You agreed to it," Sofia replied."

After some consideration I have made the decision to not write the other novels I had planned for November, so please check back on November 25 for the next post.

Suddenly Alone: Day 8

Word Count: 54,023

Summary of Events:
Chapter 17:
Axel told Sofia Hendrick was at his house and Sofia came to get him, and it took a fair bit of convincing to get him to come. Sofia then apologized to Hendrick and explained to him why she'd done what she had, then she thought about getting help from Pastor Tim and Hana with her financial situation.
Chapter 18:
Myles called Axel, interested in the combine, but upset that Axel refused to cut him a deal, so Myles called Sofia and arranged to meet her the next day. Tim and Hana arrived and Tim read through things while Sofia and Hana discussed Hendrick's excursion. Tim then told Sofia what Axel had said about the agreement was right, Sofia had agreed to many things she never would've dared to if she would've understood. Tim offered to teach Sofia with a financial course and she agreed, she then went over to Axel's place and apologized for her behaviour.

Excerpt of the Day:
""It could very well be just the grieving," Hana said. "I mean, since Josef died Axel's really well, become close to your family, and maybe Hendrick's almost seeing Axel as a replacement for Josef."
Sofia bit her lip, she didn't like that idea at all.
"So the fact that now Myles is involved here, and it seems like you're wanting to put a bit more distance in your relationship with Axel again is distressing Hendrick because Axel's kind of become his new dad, and he doesn't want him taken away," Hana concluded.
"Do you think he'd really do that?" Sofia asked.
"He's three, like you said," Hana replied. "Hendrick can't really understand things, but to him Axel's come to take the place of his dad, and he doesn't want Myles to come usurping that position — almost like a child in a divorce situation."
"I don't think that's something Axel would even want," Sofia said.
"Well, whether or not you like it, it's somewhat of a consequence of the relationship you and Axel ended up building due to the whole situation," Hana replied.
"And what do we do about it?" Sofia asked.
"Well," Hana replied. "I'm not sure. I think you just need to put the distance in slower than you were doing it. Don't rush things, don't go from suddenly close and friendly to suddenly distant. Work slowly to put more and more distance between yourselves until you're at the point that you want to be."
"But I don't even see how or why Hednrick went and latched on," Sofia said.
"Axel's very similar to Josef in height and build, he's a farmer, he drives a similar truck, and he seems to have become friendly to Hendrick, and possibly even in a similar way to how Hendrick's relationship with Josef worked," Hana replied. "There are honestly quite a few similarities between the two of them — including the fact that they're both Scandinavian, although I doubt Hendrick understands that he may possibly recognize that — so I can see how Hendrick would build a relationship there."
"Well then I guess I'm going to have to discuss this with Axel then," Sofia said. "And we'll have to see what we can do to change things to the way that they should be."
"If that's God's will," Hana said.
"What do you mean?" Sofia asked.
"I just don't want you to forget that your will may not necessarily be God's will," Hana said. "God's will isn't always what we would like to happen, but it is what happens in the end."
Sofia nodded. "But, I mean, it's been nearly three months since Josef died," she said. "If anything is going to happen then it's definitely not happening now. There's no way it could, or should."
"Who knows?" Hana said."

Suddenly Alone: Day 7

Word Count: 48,002

Summary of Events:
Chapter 15:
Contrary to Axel's advice Sofia met and signed a rental agreement with Myles McRory — even though she didn't fully understand what she signed. Hendrick told Axel who was disappointed, but understood Sofia's motivation for it, he then let Hendrick watch as he moved the implements out to display to a potential buyer. After the buyer had gone Axel dropped Hendrick off at the house and he and Sofia had a curt exchange.
Chapter 16:
Axel decided to discuss Sofia's visit with Myles, and discovered that Sofia had agreed to things that utterly horrified him. He tried to explain it to Sofia and got into a bit of a fight with her, but he told her to read through the agreement thoroughly. Sofia began to do so while planning to stop asking Axel to help her, but then she got nervous when she realized how isolated she'd be without his driving her everywhere and whatnot. Hendrick walked all by himself from his home to Axel's and told Axel he didn't intend to go home, something that concerned Axel, but he hoped might wake Sofia up to her lack of sense.

Excerpt of the Day:
"Striding up to the door, Axel reached for the knob, but thought better of turning it, being as it was such an early hour. He knocked on the door lightly. After a few moments he heard the deadbolt being slid out of place and the door opened slightly. Sofia peered out nervously.
"Why are you here?" Sofia asked.
"I wanted to discuss your visit with Myles McRory," Axel replied.
Sofia startled, the door opened a bit wider. "Where did you hear about that?"
"Children often talk freely — even if they're supposed to keep secrets," Axel replied.
"I never told anyone to keep a secret," Sofia said. "I just didn't expect them to say anything."
"Well it's not like they told me that it was Myles, or that he came over to talk about land rental agreements," Axel said. "I put that together myself from the information Hendrick gave me. Namely the description of Myles' Ford."
"Why is it any of your business who I talk to?" Sofia asked.
"Because I am assisting you with your finances," Axel replied. "And I would like to find out what all transpired to make sure that Myles isn't taking advantage of your status as a recent immigrant, widow, young mother, and being financially undereducated."
"Like he would dare," Sofi said.
"You don't know Myles at all Sofia," Axel replied. "He would dare. In fact, it probably took all of his strength to keep from salivating. He probably thought it was too good to be true until he saw your signature on the rental agreement."
Sofia set her hands on her hips, set her jaw, and cocked her head in somewhat of a defiant way. Axel flashed her a quick smile and took advantage of the fact that she was no longer holding onto the door to step inside.
Startling, Sofia reached for the door, but couldn't catch it, so instead she swung a pretty firm fist at Axel. He caught her hand before she could recoil, then managed to catch her other hand, back her up, get himself fully inside the door, and close it.
"Get out of my house!" Sofia snapped.
"Sofia," Axel said, not releasing her wrists, but relaxing himself into a nonaggressive position. "I'm trying to help you. I'm sorry about wanting to dictate the rental price, but the thing is, you have never managed the finances of a household in your life. You need someone to help you, teach you, and guide you as you go about figuring out how this is all done. Being as I have probably one of the greatest understandings that anyone around here has of your situation as an immigrant, I also live within a short walk of your home, and have the most free time of anyone around here, I'm the best candidate."
Sofia said nothing, but her breathing was measured and defined, almost somewhat in an agitated manner. Her eyes looked at him, a mixture of ferocity and fear in their cool blue depths."

Suddenly Alone: Day 6

Word Count: 42,003

Summary of Events:
Chapter 13:
Sofia and Charlotte mixed some gingersnaps and baked some chocolate chip cookies while Axel and Hendrick went out and disked Sofia's field. A rock got lodged in the disk and when it pulled loose it came up and hit Axel in the cheek and nose. He finished the field and then headed to the hospital to see how bad it'd been. He called Sofia and told her to watch for a prospective buyer and Sofia worried about Axel's condition.
Chapter 14:
The next morning Axel surveyed his fractured cheekbone for himself, it was swollen and bruised, looking like a rather nasty plum. When he arrived to get Hendrick and go disk the field a second time Sofia freaked out at the bruise, but eventually let them go out and work. Axel got to thinking about Sofia and then ended up thinking about the heartbreaking demise of his marriage. Axel and Hendrick came in for lunch and Sofia told them the prospective buyer hadn't made the purchase, due to the implement being John Deere. Between finishing the field and suppertime Axel went and assessed the progress and saw that Sofia needed to get a renter for her field soon.

Excerpt of the Day:
"Stepping inside, Axel couldn't see anyone, but he could hear Sofia talking softly. He walked toward the kitchen — which was pretty much the guaranteed place to find them — and saw Charlotte and Sofia were looking at something.
Hendrick was sitting across from them and sat up straight, his face lit up and he clambered out of his chair and hurried over. Sofia turned and gasped, putting her hand over her mouth, her face expressing abject horror.
"Oh my goodness!" Sofia exclaimed. "I thought you said you'd hit your nose!"
"I did," Axel replied. "I just hit my cheek too."
"Have you put ice on it?" Sofia asked.
"Yes," Axel replied. "I've had ice on it for several hours. It was about twice this big earlier."
"Shouldn't you have ice on it now?" Sofia asked.
"My arms are going to be dead," Axel replied.
"Is it just a bruise?" Sofia asked.
"No," Axel replied. "I fractured my cheek."
Sofia gasped again. "Surely you shouldn't even be working!" she exclaimed.
"I'm not in construction or anything," Axel replied. "I'll just be driving all day, minimal risk, if any at all."
"But still," Sofia protested.
"And if I have Hendrick watching for rocks for me then I won't even be moving my head too much either," Axel said.
"Oh," Sofia moaned. "Can't you rest?"
"No, not really," Axel replied. "At least not until I've disked your field."
"I thought you did that yesterday," Sofia said.
"I'm disking it twice," Axel replied. "More effective."
Sofia sighed and brushed some stray hairs from her face. Axel gave her a bit of a wry smile.
"It takes a lot to knock a man down, especially a farming man," Axel said.
Sofia cast her gaze towed the ceiling and sighed again. "And it seems that I'm going to have to deal with it."
"It seems so, yes," Axel replied.
"Be careful when loosing any rocks," Sofia said, looking at Axel sternly.
"Yes ma'am," Axel replied.
Hendrick wrapped his hand around Axel's fingers again and was tugging on Axel's hand, begging to be off already.
"Come back for lunch please," Sofia said.
"We'll do our best," Axel replied.
Sofia nodded. Axel finally followed Hendrick and they both put their shoes on and headed out to the tractor. Axel helped Hendrick up and then followed him inside. He started up the tractor and went to the field entry and started to go around the perimeter of the field."

Suddenly Alone: Day 5

Word Count: 36,017

Summary of Events:
Chapter 11:
Axel was hauling some of Josef's grain in to the elevator and got an inquiry in regards to Josef's equipment. Sofia read through the spreadsheet about Josef's finances that Axel had brought for her and was able to surmise that she was in a desperate situation. She talked with Axel about it a bit and he told her he'd explain more later. He came for supper and gave Sofia the cheque for the grain and told her he'd take her to the bank to pay off some of the debts.
Chapter 12:
Axel took Sofia with him in his grain truck and they stopped at the elevator to unload some grain before they went to do the paying and got another offer on some of the equipment. Axel got another offer later that day and managed to sell one of the implements.

Excerpt of the Day:
"She looked up at the sound of a rumbling vehicle. Axel's black truck pulled into view and drove toward the grain bins. Sofia got up and slipped out the door, and hurried toward where Axel had parked.
Grain started pouring out of the auger between the bin and the truck. Sofia cut around behind the bin to get to where Axel was standing on the other side of the auger. He looked up at her as she came up to him.
Being as she really didn't know what to say Sofia grabbed either half of the open zipper on Axel's sweater, and some of his shirt, in her hands, buried her face into his chest, and sobbed.
She could tell Axel was surprised, but she was just so terrified and horrified and she didn't know what to do. After a dew moments Axel gently put a hand against her back. She then felt him take a deep breath, and then exhale, before resting his other hand gently on her shoulder.
"What's the matter Sofia?" Axel asked.
Determinedly Sofia worked to regain her composure, but she couldn't really. She just kept on crying. Axel gently moved his hand in circles over her middle and lower back. He seemed to understand that she wasn't really in a place to be pressed.
Finally Sofia managed to get herself together enough to look at Axel. He stopped rubbing her back and kept his hand just resting on it a little ways below her shoulders. She inhaled a shaky breath before venturing to speak.
"I read through the paper myself," Sofia said.
"What paper?" Axel asked.
"The paper you left, when you told me Josef had spent everything," Sofia replied.
"Oh, the spreadsheet," Axel said. "And?"
"It's horrible," Sofia replied.
"That's a pretty good summary," Axel said, giving her a bit of a wry smile.
"I can't believe Josef would do something like that," Sofia whispered, dropping her gaze from Axel's face to his neck. She noticed a black cord and a silver chain that disappeared under his shirt.
Axel sighed and Sofia looked up at him. "That's how the world runs," Axel said. "You go out and dig yourself a big hole with an excavator, and then try to fill it up with a spade, or keep digging it bigger with the excavator until someone or something with a bulldozer comes and pushes you into the hole and buries you in your grave."
Sofia flinched at Axel's somewhat harsh description, although she could see how it worked. Josef had spent most everything on the down payments and accumulating for himself debts bigger than the total of the money he'd spent to secure the things, and then with the even lesser money he had left over he'd tired to fill in the hole he'd dug, which was really only going to work so long until those he owed money to were going to get their money and bury him by taking away absolutely everything he had."

Suddenly Alone: Day 4

Word Count: 30,003

Summary of Events:
Chapter 9:
Sofia started homeshcooling Charlotte, which took a little bit of motivation to accomplish. Axel helped out some neighbours in harvesting their canola when Sofia called and said the power company was threatening to cut the power if they weren't paid within the week. Sofia, worried now that they'd discovered two unpaid bills, decided to work on piecing together the papers Josef had written notes on and she, Hendrick, and Charlotte succeeded in finishing the piecing.
Chapter 10:
Axel and his accountant surveyed the results of going through Josef's finances and notes, and found that Sofia was in a horrible position. Axel took the information to Sofia and told her they were going to need to sell as much as they possibly could. Axel then brought out all the tractors and other equipment to be assessed by a friend of his and photographed so it could be sold.

Excerpt of the Day:
"Nervously Sofia watched as Axel pulled the doors to the machine shed open. The great, green combine loomed before her. The very vehicle off of which her husband had fallen to his death. Sofia honestly felt quite terrified at the sight of it.
Once the doors were open Axel beckoned for Sofia to follow him. Sofia hurried over to his side and stayed half-hidden behind him as he stepped into the machine shed.
"We're going to need to drive everything out of here and get some good pictures of them to advertise them," Axel said. "I've called in an assessor to get values on these things and we'll use those to figure out prices."
"Could we not just have an auction?" Sofia asked.
"Well," Axel said. "We could. But, the thing is, at an auction you can't exactly guarantee that you'll get the price you'd like to get."
"Can't you set prices?" Sofia asked. "Like, say, you tell the auctioneer you don't want him to dip lower than a hundred dollars or whatever."
"The auctioneer usually does something like that of his own accord," Axel replied. "But I think that if we were to do a private sale would be easier, because then we wouldn't have to pay for the auctioneers' service, and we can make sure we get the money we want to get from different things."
Sofia nodded.
"Why are you hiding behind me?" Axel asked, turning to look at her.
She looked warily between Axel and the machine. Axel glanced toward the combine somewhat ashamedly.
"Sorry," Axel said.
"It's not really that so much," Sofia said. "It's just that, well, it's so huge."
"Yeah, it's definitely big," Axel agreed.
"Do I have to take pictures of them?" Sofia asked.
"No," Axel replied. "The assessor's going to do that."
"Oh," Sofia said.
Axel moved on through the machine shed with a confidence that Sofia almost wished she had, the thing was that all of these machines were so huge, and she was sure that if she moved wrong all of the sudden one of them was going to roar to life or something and she didn't exactly want to be around when that happened.
Stopping beside the large truck, much like Axel's own, except that it wasn't black, Axel climbed up beside the door and looked in the window. Axel then climbed down.
"What?" Sofia asked.
"Josef left the keys in the ignition in every vehicle," Axel replied.
"Is that a bad thing?" Sofia asked.
"Only if someone were to break in," Axel replied.
"Oh," Sofia said.
"It's good for us because we don't have to hunt the keys down and play eenie meenie miney mo to figure out which key goes where," Axel replied.
"Oh," Sofia said.
Axel turned around and walked back to the combine, being as it was in front. He climbed up and opened the door. He looked down at Sofia.
"You want to be inside or outside when I start this?" Axel asked.
Sofia scrambled up the stairs and took a seat on the small passenger seat in the cab, even from the inside this machine was big and intimidating."

Suddenly Alone: Day 3

Word Count: 24,003

Summary of Events:
Chapter 5:
Sofia's in-laws left at last and Axel went over to talk with Sofia about what she should do next, suggesting she look through the finances and she told him that Josef had managed the money by himself and showed him where Josef had done it. It was a disarrayed mess and Axel wasn't sure what kind of condition the money was in, so he asked to have Sofia's consent to move money as required. Sofia thought about and decided she would only do so if she got criminal and financial record checks which Axel conceded to.
Chapter 6:
Sofia then went to Josef's accountant to have him explain Axel's financial records and found out that Axel had been married for about four years, and the accountant also offered to organise Josef's finances for her which Sofia intended to agree to, however Axel told her Josef had taken notes in Swedish — which her accountant wouldn't understand — and he was the only person he knew aside from her who knew Swedish. Sofia got stressed out and decided to go visit the pastor and he prayed with her.
Chapter 7:
Axel continued to work on going through Josef's papers. Sofia came to Axel with a letter, it was from a custom seeding company saying they hadn't seen payment yet. Axel found the bill and told Sofia it hadn't been paid. Sofia was upset about it. Axel wrote a note of explanation to the company to explain to them. Sofia worried that there might be more unpaid bills and she talked a bit with Hendrick who then decided to go help Axel. Sofia came to get him at snack time and Hendrick fiercely insisted that Axel join them and he did, although reluctantly.
Chapter 8:
Sofia got to wondering about whether she wanted Hendrick to become friends with Axel as that would make her have to become friends with him and she wasn't quite sure if she wanted that, and she wondered why she even wanted to stay in Canada if she didn't want to make friends, but surmised that it was because of the fact that here she could decide when she wanted to hear from her family who were offering a litany of different ideas for her to choose from as to what she should do. The pastor's wife came over and talked with Sofia a bit before they decided that they should do some talking with Charlotte, being as she was taking Josef's death hard. Axel finished going through the bills and then started to go through the notes and found that Josef had taken a sheet of paper, written on it, and then torn the bits off, so he decided to work at piecing them together and finding out about when they would've been written.

Excerpt of the Day:
"They worked for quite awhile before Axel heard the door open and he had a feeling that it was opened in urgency. He looked up as Sofia hurried over on her tiptoes. She looked to be panicked.
"Have you– Hendrick!" Sofia exclaimed.
Her chocolate haired son looked up at her and smiled. "I'm helping the uncle Mama."
"You should've told me," Sofia said, putting a hand over her breastbone.
"Oh," Hendrick said, his smile fading.
"It's snack time," Sofia said.
Hendrick's smile returned and he carefully manoeuvred through the papers to Sofia who turned to lead the way through the barn and out. Axel took up the next paper and found a date on it. When he looked up Hendrick was back at the door.
"Aren't you coming?" Hendrick asked.
"I wasn't invited," Axel replied.
Hendrick turned and hurried away.
Axel found a bunch of dateless notes written on scraps and got up to put them on the chair. He heard feet running back.
"I asked Mama if you could be invited and she said yes," Hendrick said.
"It's okay," Axel said. "I'll just stay here."
"No!" Hendrick protested. "You're invited!"
"Thank you for your invitation," Axel said. "But I do have the right to refuse your invitation."
"I want you to come!" Hendrick said.
"There's still lots of work that needs to be done," Axel said. "So I'll just work on finishing it, okay? Maybe next time."
"No!" Hendrick cried, bursting into tears.
Axel sighed and looked up at the ceiling. He got up and stepped over the papers, reaching over to cover Hendrick's mouth to silence the sobs and cries.
"Shh," Axel said, hoping desperately Sofia wouldn't round the corner. This was embarrassing enough as it was. "I'm busy, I'll come tomorrow, okay? Can't I come tomorrow?"
He lifted his hand off of Hendrick's mouth a little to let him answer. Hendrick but Axel right on the side of his ring finger. Axel cried out and snatched his hand away, knocking Hendrick onto his backside and only adding to Hendrick's volume in his cries.
Axel swore under his breath and rubbed his finger, then he took Hendrick by the arm and helped him to his feet.
"I know I'm not your mom, or your dad," Axel said. "But biting is uncalled for."
"I want you to come!" Hendrick said.
"And biting me is not going to accomplish that," Axel replied.
"I want you to come today," Hendrick said.
"I'll walk you to the house, okay?" Axel asked.
"And you'll come inside for snack," Hendrick said.
"Maybe," Axel replied.
Hendrick wiped his eyes with his fists while Axel straightened. Hendrick reached up and wrapped his wet, grubby little hand around two of Axel's fingers tightly and walked with Axel to the house."

Suddenly Alone: Day 2

Word Count: 12,008

Summary of Events:
Chapter 3:
Sofia told Charlotte and Hendrick that Josef was dead, to much weeping. Axel got up and went to finish off Josef's final field and Jarred suggested — being as Axel knew a bit of Swedish and how to deal with currency exchanging and immigration — that Axel help Sofia deal with things now that she was alone. Axel then went to the Olesen's and advised Sofia to call her lawyer and find out about Josef's will. Sofia ended up getting tongue-tied and Axel took over the call and arranged for Sofia to meet the lawyer that afternoon.
Chapter 4:
Josef's funeral took place and all his brothers, one of his sisters, and his parents were the only friends and family from Sweden who were able to show up. One of Josef's brothers, Mats, became a little suspicious of Axel, being as Sofia held onto him so tightly at the funeral, and Axel had no wedding ring on. After the funeral Sofia and her family discussed her going back to Sweden — which she refused to do. Then Mats suggested she wanted to stay to be close to Axel and Sofia got upset and left the dining room.

Excerpt of the Day:
""You love him," Mats said.
"Love who?" Jonas asked.
"No," Sofia replied. "I do not. But Mr. Bergquist has offered to help me to adjust to the changes that have happened, and to teach me how to do things in Canada so that I can continue what Josef started."
"Who?" Jonas asked.
"The man who she stood by at the funeral," Mats replied.
"Ah yes, him," Jonas said. "But Mats, you don't seriously think that Sofia would so much as abandon her lifelong sweetheart. You know how smitten Josef and Sofia were. They likely would've been married when they were in their teens if it would've been allowed."
"You never know," Mats said.
"I don't!" Sofia snapped. "But he has offered me the assistance that I need to remain in Canada, which I am sure Josef wanted for me to do, and which I intend to do so that the wishes Josef outlined in his will can be fulfilled."
"Why do you need to stay in Canada?" Jonas asked.
"Because that was what Josef wanted," Sofia replied.
"You know," everyone turned to look at Lars who hadn't hardly said a word since he and his wife had arrived. "I think we're all wasting our breath here."
"And how do you mean?" Mats asked, sounding quite upset.
"Grief always relapses at six months," Lars replied. "Or within that area anyways. So I think we should just let things lie as they lie and see what happens at six months."
"I don't understand Lars," Jonas said.
"If Sofia wants to stay here for now let her stay here for now," Lars replied. "See if this Mr. Bergquist can or will help her out with adjusting to live in Canada, and whether or not that will matter when the grief relapses. Maybe when the grief relapses she'll decide that she can't do this on her own, or doesn't want to, and will come back to Sweden of her own accord. There's no sense in forcing her now."
Everyone was silent, Jonas had his thumb resting on the tip of his nose and his forefinger stroking down the bridge as he contemplated Lars' suggestion. Sofia thought it was a good idea, that way they'd leave her alone and not go trying to pressure her into going to Sweden.
"You know," Jonas said. "I think that is a very good and reasonable idea. My apologies, Sofia, we shouldn't force you around, but please know that even though Josef sold everything, we will still take you in if you so need or want. We will provide for you whatever you may need whenever you want to come back to Sweden."
Sofia nodded. "Thank you," she said."

Suddenly Alone: Day 1

Word Count: 6,004

Summary of Events:
Chapter 1:
Sofia and Josef got up and had breakfast and Sofia then saw Josef off to work. Axel and the son of the man Josef was renting the field in progress from — Jarred Hawes — discussed Josef and how Axel thought that Josef wasn't managing his finances wisely while they waited for Josef to fill the combine harvester. Sofia hung out laundry to dry and then tried to read, but she didn't get very far for the first bit. Axel returned from emptying his truck to find Josef in an odd position and called the paramedics.
Chapter 2:
Sofia and the children had lunch and Sofia started to feel a little concerned, being as Josef hadn't called for her to bring lunch over. The paramedics arrived and pronounced Josef dead, having fallen off the combine while taking a sample and breaking his neck — killing him instantly — and they then took the body away. Axel told Jarred what happened and Jarred called his dad, Trevor, and they kept harvesting being as they had to move while the weather was good. Sofia was starting to get nervous being as it was close to suppertime and Josef still hadn't called for lunch. Axel came to empty his truck, having finished off the field, and decided to tell Sofia that Josef had died.

Excerpt of the Day:
""Mrs. Olesen," Axel sighed. "I, Josef fell off the combine while taking a sample."
Sofia's eyes flew open and her hand shot over her mouth. She was waiting for him to finish. Waiting for more.
"He, he broke his neck," Axel continued. Sofia gasped. "According to the paramedics he died instantly."
Sofia's hands flew up to her face and she burst into sobs. Axel bit his lower lip and moved his jaw back and forth, not really sure what to do. Sofia put her elbows onto her thighs, her body shaking with sobs.
Finally Axel moved a little bit closer and, feeling a bit awkward, but feeling he should do it, put his arm around Sofia's shaking shoulders. Sofia took one hand off her face and moved it around his back, hanging her hand over his shoulder.
Axel was a little surprised, but Sofia hung her other hand on his other shoulder and buried her face into his chest, pushing him back against the couch and sobbing. Axel brought up his other arm and gently wrapped it around her head and looked down at her dark brown hair as it flowed over the top of her head.
Looking up, he gazed out the window at his truck. He hoped that they weren't waiting for him at the field or trying to call him. He had a feeling this was going to take a lot more time than he'd anticipated.
Movement out the corner of his eye caused him to turn his head toward the foot of the staircase — where the front entry was — and he found standing there a young girl, probably about six, who, like her parents, had dark brown hair and blue eyes. She was looking on the scene with absolute horror. Great. Now what was he going to do?
The girl, in somewhat falling out braids, stalked over, her blue eyes both icy and incredibly ferocious. She looked at him as if his presence were unwelcome — something he didn't really doubt.
Sofia brought her head up, her eyes now thoroughly red, and looked at her daughter, who startled at the sight of her mother's tears. In a swift and sudden motion Sofia swept her daughter into her arms and sobbed some more. The girl looked up at Axel with a look of saddened disconcertion on her face, trying to figure out what was going on.
"I'm sorry,"Axel said quietly. "I have to go now, we've got one more field, and we'd like to get a start on it."
Neither female acknowledged that Axel had said anything so, even though he felt somewhat wrong and rather uncomfortable, he got up from the couch and headed out of the door."