An Important Announcement

To the Readers of This Blog,

After a considerable time of thought, I have come to the decision to discontinue posting on this blog.

It isn’t that I’ve run out of ideas by any means, rather, it is because my ideas are too time consuming, I believe, for me to continue writing at the pace and on the schedule that I have — more or less — been writing for the last eight years and change.

This time-consumption is not a negative, I don’t believe, but a positive, because the fact that I want to spend so much time developing my characters and enriching my worlds will assuredly only mean that the finished products will be rich with interest and intrigue for all — hopefully including you — who might someday read them.

However, this increase in time spent on the planning phase of my projects has had the negative effect of leaving me, with each successive project, less and less time between the beginning of the planning process and the date that I’d set to begin writing the manuscript, and although I did take two successive months off this summer in an effort to get ahead, the lead I gave myself has already almost completely evaporated, thus I am not ready to begin writing a manuscript tomorrow, and even have my doubts as to what state I’ll be in come January.

As a result, I’m inclined to reduce my writing frequency, which would, in turn, reduce my posting frequency, and I have no idea how often I might write manuscripts in the future either. Since I cannot guarantee when or how often I would write, I feel that the maintenance of this blog is pointless, as the purpose of a blog is to be posted on with some degree of regularity or consistency, neither of which, at this point, I can guarantee.

In closing, I would like to thank any of you who may’ve been regular readers of this blog for your interest in what I’ve had to share over these years, and I hope that you will someday have the privilege of reading the full and complete stories of which you’ve read early-draft excerpts.

Sincerely,

R.A. Millet

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 15

Word Total: 90,017

Year to Date: 810,384

Summary of Events:

Weston's father tried to call Andie's brother, but the operator informed him the phones were down owing to a tornado. Andie immediately became frantic and begged to be taken home to look for her brother, which Weston's father eventually agreed to do. They encountered heavy wind and so much rain it was like a whiteout blizzard as they drove, but no tornado. Reaching the trailer park, they weren't able to go far before tangled debris clogged their way, so Weston's father got out of the truck and asked a policeman at the scene about both Andie's brother and Shannon. A medic approached and revealed that Shannon was sitting relatively uninjured in an ambulance cab, so Weston, Andie, and his father went over to see her…

Excerpt of the Day:

“We were all home,” Shannon said, her jaw quivering. “I don’t remember seeing the tornado… or even really anything after the windows shattered. I heard a really loud roar, like we were right beside a train at top speed, and then I woke up on the ground in the rain and a medic found me.”

“Don’t try and remember anything now,” Dad said gently. “You’re alright, I’m here, and the tornado’s gone.”

“Will I be able to go home with you?” Shannon asked.

“Well, if you’re deemed medically fit you should be able to,” Dad replied. “I’ll go check with the cop to be sure.”

Shannon nodded and Dad strode off immediately, leaving Weston and Andie standing in the rain while Shannon was sheltered from the still-falling rain by the ambulance’s cab.

Weston looked at Shannon after a moment and saw that she looked like she still wanted to be hugged, and he had to admit that he wanted to hug someone too, so he wrapped Shannon in a tight, two-armed embrace. Shannon wrapped her arms around his neck and started to cry again, which caused tears to start flowing from Weston’s eyes and his body to quiver with shaky breaths.

“I was so scared for you,” Weston whispered. “You should’ve stayed with Gramp and Gram for the weekend. But… you’re alright… so… I guess…”

Shannon said nothing, continuing to cling to Weston, who detected after a moment that Andie was struggling not to cry.

Carefully he released one of his arms from around Shannon to beckon to Andie, who immediately joined in the embrace and started crying against Weston’s other shoulder. As he held her, Weston felt a sense of dread within himself at the thought that Andie might not be able to have the same kind of reunion with Tony. He hoped she’d be able to somehow, but he had no idea.

Hearing the sound of approaching feet, Weston looked up and saw Dad walking up to them. The tears still clouding his eyes made it hard for Weston to see what kind of expression was on Dad’s face, but he loosened his grip on both Andie and Shannon as Dad approached, prompting them both to raise their heads from Weston’s shoulders and turn.

“The officer says that if the medic clears you, you can come home with me,” Dad said to Shannon. “Come, let’s go have you looked over.”

Nodding, Shannon released Weston and walked over to Dad. Weston could tell Shannon was shivering, which was no surprise considering she was absolutely drenched and not wearing any rain gear in the least. She wasn’t even wearing shoes.

Weston closed the ambulance cab door so as to keep it from getting any wetter in there than Shannon’s soggy clothes had made it before gently wrapping Andie in a two-armed embrace.

He wanted to say something to Andie to encourage her, but he had no idea what to say, so he just held her close and hoped that Tony was alive and safe somewhere, just like Shannon had been found.

Next Post: 31 October

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 14

Word Count: 84,035

Summary of Events:

Friday dawned very hot, prompting one of the farmhands — who always fussed about the weather — to predict a tornado. Weston invited Shawn over to play some games in the shade until he had a dentist appointment. Once Shawn left, Weston and Andie walked around in the shade and ended up learning from the fearful farmhand that the Weather Radio station he always listened to had broadcast a tornado warning, which caused Andie to fret until she called her mom, who reported that the weather forecast was only for a late-afternoon thunderstorm. Later on, however, Andie's oldest brother called to report his girlfriend's grandmother had seen a tornado heading north and he couldn't get a hold of Andie's other brother who was at home, prompting Andie to fret again. Weston was certain that the tornado wouldn't be severe, or jump the deep river valley that bisected Edmonton, as was his father, but eventually heavy winds and rain reached the farm and Weston's father came in from working in the shop to take Weston and Andie into the basement, where they sheltered in the spare bedroom closet…

Excerpt of the Day:

Weston appreciated Dad’s touch and closeness as he listened to the wind buffeting the house with a voiceless, heaving moan, the rain and hail striking the house in rapid-fire staccato that sounded like someone spilling a bagful of something hard on a wood floor.

Andie soon started to cry and Weston began to feel the prick of warm tears in his eyes despite the fact that he didn’t want to cry as his mind called up his most recent memory of Shannon at the gas station, being taken back home by Gramp. She would’ve been safer if she would’ve stayed at Gram and Gramp’s through the weekend.

After awhile Weston leaned his head against Dad, but he fought hard to keep from crying, even though he was worried about Shannon. Sure she was a girl, and she was younger than him, but she was his sister, the only sister — or sibling of any sort — he had, and he couldn’t deny that he loved her and knew that she loved him. Losing her would be probably the worst thing he could experience in his life. He hoped she was alright.

Dad’s hand started rubbing on his upper arm just over his shoulder, which Weston had to admit was a comfort, as was the ability to rest his head on Dad’s shoulder and nestle himself as close to Dad’s side as possible. Even Dad’s breathing continuing to be calm and steady gave Weston a sense of comfort and reassurance that even though everyone went on and on about how he was a young man who was practically all grown-up, he didn’t have to be the strongest or the bravest one at the moment, because he didn’t really know how.

Weston had no idea how long they huddled in the closet sitting on the spare pillows and covered by the spare blanket. He couldn’t really see much light through the closet door, as the basement wasn’t very high out of the ground, so the windows were small, making the room dim and dreary compared to Weston’s bedroom upstairs, and he had to admit that it felt long enough that the sun might’ve set.

Eventually, however, Dad carefully shifted his position, drawing his arm off Weston’s shoulder and moving it in front of himself to push the blanket off.

“The wind seems to have gone down,” Dad said quietly.

Reaching forward, he carefully opened the closet doors, revealing that it wasn’t nearly as dark as Weston had anticipated it could’ve been. He straightened out his legs, which had been feeling rather cramped. Dad did the same before easing to his feet and walking over to one of the windows.

“It looks like we’ve got at least part of a tree down,” Dad said. “We’ll see better upstairs.”

“You think it’s safe?” Weston asked.

“The worst of it is past us, I think,” Dad replied.

Nodding, Weston carefully got to his feet and offered his hand to Andie, who eased to her feet and stepped close to Weston, who put his arm around her and followed Dad out of the spare room and upstairs, where the view out the unusually dry front windows showed a decently thick covering of hail and steady falling rain that wasn’t near as heavy as when it’d first opened up.

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 13

Word Count: 78,035

Summary of Events:

Weston, feeling sceptical that Darryl had suffered all the injuries Shaw had reported from slipping on his ice cream, stopped by the hospital with Andie, and was surprised to learn that Shaw had told the truth when reporting Darryl's injuries. Before going home, he and Andie stopped for fuel and saw Weston's sister, Shannon, who told them she'd been at Weston's maternal grandparents for a few days because of an incident at home, but was heading back home again, which made Weston a tad concerned. After breakfast the following morning Weston and his father were surprised to be called on by Jarvis Lockhart, Shaw's father, who wanted to know what was going on, having heard that Shaw and Weston's father were no longer friends, so Weston's father explained everything…

Excerpt of the Day:

“Well, thank you for not being upset,” Dad said. “I do feel badly that things have come to this between myself and Shaw, but Weston means more to me than any friendship, and if my friends or their families are out to cause him distress and even harm, I will prioritise his safety and wellbeing, no matter the cost.”

“And that’s only right,” Jarvis said. “Any father ought to care about his children like that, but reasonably. If their child is being a problem and they do such a thing as you’ve done out of denial that their child is a problem, that’s a bad thing, but you’re protecting your son from a problem child, and that’s right. Too many people these days, I think, are shockingly indifferent to their children. They think making money or other things are more important than raising up the next generation that will truly be their best legacy. Children aren’t like cattle, you can’t just feed them two or three times a day, make sure they’re healthy, and keep their fences in good repair, you need to be more involved in their lives, after all, they’re your offspring, not your possessions.”
“Yes,” Dad agreed.

Weston withdrew from the living room door, suspecting he’d not yet been noticed by Jarvis, who was getting to his feet and making his way to the door with a bit of a hitch to his step that Weston had been told was the result of having been roughly head-butted by a cantankerous young steer shortly before he’d retired and handed the farm over to Shaw.

“I wish Shaw were more like that,” Jarvis said. “Darryl might never have been a problem in the first place if he’d not been so focused on turning bigger profits with the farm. It’s not that I don’t want the farm to prosper, but what use is a prosperous farm if you don’t have capable kids to take it over from you?”

From his position in the dining room doorway, Weston saw enough of Dad to see him nod.

“Weston’s a good kid,” Jarvis said. “You’ve done a good job with him, even with all the things you’ve had to deal with otherwise. I’m honestly impressed.”

“Thank you,” Dad said quietly.

“Well, hope you have a good harvest,” Jarvis said as the door opened.

“Thank you,” Dad said. “Goodbye.”

“Bye,” Jarvis replied.

The door closed and Weston stepped out of the dining room doorway. Dad looked at him.

“That was certainly not what I expected when I saw he was on the other side of the door,” Dad said.

“Me either,” Weston said.

“I feel bad for him,” Dad said. “I’ll bet he feels like he was a lousy father, but I really don’t think he was.”

“Then what do you think it was?” Weston asked.

“Well, Shaw’s always been… I guess you’d say an ‘anything you can do I can do better’ type,” Dad replied. “He’s not good at taking advice that’s offered to him when he doesn’t want it. In fact, I’ve heard that independence is a Lockhart trait, and I always thought that Shaw had it in spades, and that’s seeming more and more to be to his detriment.”
Weston nodded. He had to agree.

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 12

Word Count: 72,013

Summary of Events:

Weston, Andie, and Shawn decided to cancel plans they'd made for a hike on Tuesday and go to the swimming pool instead because the day was too hot for them to feel like hiking. After enjoying themselves at the pool, they went for ice cream, and just as they were nearly done, Darryl and three of his closest friends arrived at the shop, but they didn't notice Weston and Shawn — as Andie had to go to the bathroom — until after they'd gotten their orders. Darryl's friends — to Weston and Shawn's surprise — weren't as wont to pick a fight as Darryl was, prompting Darryl to get mad at them, allowing Weston and Shawn to get away. Later on, as Andie was beginning to prepare supper, Shaw came to the farm quite angry, wanting to give Weston the beating that he believed Weston deserved and Weston's father wasn't giving him, but Weston's father intervened…

Excerpt of the Day:

“This has gone far enough Shaw!” Dad declared firmly. “I have every reason to trust Weston is telling me the truth. Nevertheless, if he is found to be lying, I will be meting out the punishment for it, not anyone else.”

“Highly unlikely,” Shaw spat back. “You’re far too blinded by your false beliefs that Weston is too perfect to do anything wrong.”
“Whatever biases I harbour toward Weston pale to near-invisible in comparison to the biases you harbour toward Darryl,” Dad declared. “You’re the pot calling the kettle black, and I’m quite tired of being told that my son is the villain when I have quite solid proofs on which to build my reasons to believe that it is your son who is the villain.”

“What gaslighting!” Shaw raged. “Your monster of a son has done a masterful job of persuading you that he’s the epitome of saintliness!”

“It is Darryl who’s been doing the gaslighting, Shaw,” Dad replied firmly. “And you’re the one who’s been gaslit, and it’s at the point now that I’m really not sure that you and I can be friends anymore.”

“If that’s what you think, then I don’t have any interest in having anything further to do with you!” Shaw declared. “In fact, I’ve wasted far too much of my life spending time with you, and I’ll have you know that I will get your son properly punished for all that he’s done to Darryl in the last week!”

Turning, Shaw stalked off to his truck, getting inside, slamming the door, starting the engine, backing up, and shooting down the driveway at a rapid speed, turning the corner back south without hardly decelerating.

Dad looked somewhat sad as he watched Shaw depart, but he looked at Weston with signs of relief on his face. “Good riddance.”

Weston walked up to Dad and hugged him. Dad returned the embrace and Weston could tell even though Dad didn’t hardly make a sound, that Dad appreciated the gesture.

After a long moment that started to get sensations of awkwardness, Weston loosened his grip on Dad, who released him.

“Also, Dad,” Weston said. “I had no idea Darryl slipped on his ice cream, nor that it did such a number to him to do so.”

“I know you too well to believe you’d wantonly waste food like that,” Dad said. “You know the work it takes to produce food, you’re not going to let it go to waste if you can help it, even though your survival doesn’t necessarily depend on it.”

“The list of injuries he gave for Darryl also sounded rather unbelievable,” Weston added as he fell into step beside Dad, heading around the garage.

“It did,” Dad agreed. “I know most businesses have concrete floors that can be both slippery and solid, but that’s a lot of damage for falling on ice cream. Even if Darryl would be the sort who could go down heavily.”

Weston nodded. He’d thought so too.

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 11

Word Count: 66,107

Summary of Events:

Weston, Andie, and Shawn went on their canoe trip on Friday, finding a lovely little beach along the river a little beyond how far Weston and Shawn usually went to enjoy their picnic lunch on. The following day Weston, Andie, and his father went to the Rutledge farm for a farewell party, to which Andie brought an especially fancy dessert as a way to repay Mrs. Rutledge for generously giving her a gift for her mother, while Weston was confronted by Mrs. Rutledge's son-in-law, who told him that Darryl had been calling Sheri all week just to be a nuisance, prompting him — and Weston's father when he was apprised of the situation — to advise Weston to tell Darryl that Sheri wasn't his girlfriend, although Weston's efforts to do so were hampered by Darryl yelling at him before he could begin…

Excerpt of the Day:

Crossing his arms over his chest, Weston gathered his lips, angered that Darryl was trying to claim that he was the one who was the bully when it was, in fact, Darryl who was the bully, and always had been.

“It’s getting so bad these days that I might have to file a restraining order against you!” Darryl went on, continuing to swear. “I really don’t know why you have such an obsession with me, I could care less about you!”
Weston whispered a profanity of his own in dispute of Darryl. It was the other way around. Darryl was the one who had the inexplicable obsession with him, and he was the one who could care less about Darryl.

“You are one of the most intolerable people I’ve ever met!” Darryl exclaimed. “I really have no idea how anyone can possibly like you or live with you without going out of their mind!”

“Are you finished yet?” Weston asked.

“Why?” Darryl demanded.

“Because I came up to you in order to inform you — since you’re apparently too dumb to have figured it out from the abundant evidence — that Sheri Deering is not my girlfriend,” Weston replied. “Thus, I would like you to stop haranguing her and bothering her.”

“Then why did you say she was?” Darryl demanded.

“I didn’t say she was,” Weston replied. “When you asked if she was my girlfriend, I didn’t say anything to either confirm or deny whether she was or not. You just jumped to a conclusion.”

“You’re lying!” Darryl cried. “You’re trying to throw me off the trail.”

“What part of Sheri’s slapping you across the face at the auction and hanging up on you every time you call gives you reason to believe that she and I are dating?” Weston demanded.

“How did you find out that she did anything to me at the auction?” Darryl demanded profanely, his voice getting louder and angrier.

“I was an eyewitness,” Weston replied simply with a shrug.

“How!?” Darryl exclaimed, his voice even louder and more angry. “How did you see what happened? I didn’t see you anywhere! You couldn’t have seen it! There’s no way! How could you have seen it!?”

“That’s for me to know and you ti find out,” Weston replied with a slightly smug tone.

“You’re lying!” Darryl raged, going on to say more, but Weston had a hard time making out what most of it was, and he had to admit that the apoplectic way Darryl was reacting was not what he’d expected at all, in fact, he felt a little disturbed by it.

“We’re leaving!” Shaw’s voice loudly declared over Darryl’s hollering.

Weston turned and saw Shaw towing Kay along in one hand and Jessie in the other, with neither of them looking terribly pleased. Adams came along from somewhere else, not looking pleased either, but also looking like he didn’t want to be left behind, while Darryl gestured rudely at Weston before turning and stalking away with his family without prodding.

Silently Weston watched as they stalked across the yard to Kay’s car and got inside, the car starting, shooting backwards, and whipping around to surge out of the yard in a matter of moments.

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 10

Word Count: 60,101

Summary of Events:

Upon returning home from the Lockhart's, Weston went and told his father that he'd apologised before spending the rest of the day with Andie. The following day Weston and Andie had to go to town to get a few groceries, as Andie had decided to make a picnic lunch for the canoe trip she, Weston, and Shawn were going to be taking the day after, and ended up seeing Weston's mother's parents at a coffee shop they stopped at to get a snack. Since Weston had to introduce Andie to them, he worried they might tell his mother as he and Andie sat down for lunch with his father, who noticed his worry and brought it up in conversation shortly…

Excerpt of the Day:

“I don’t know that we ever got snow quite that bad here,” Dad replied. “But we got some pretty heavy ones over the years too. Not that any of this is related to your worry.”

“It’s a welcome distraction,” Weston replied.

“Nevertheless,” Dad said. “What are you worried about?”

“Well, when we stopped for cookies, Gram and Gramp were there,” Weston replied.

Dad nodded.

“They waved me over and I introduced Andie to them because I kind of had to,” Weston went on. “Gram mentioned that she hadn’t heard about Andie from Mom, and I’m a little worried that she might tell Mom, and whatever Mom knows Ross knows.”

“Unfortunately,” Dad agreed with a nod.

“I did call Gram and Gramp and leave a message asking them to let me tell Mom,” Weston said. “So we’ll have to see how it goes.”

“It should be alright,” Dad said. “Frank and Wilma are decent people.”

“But Mr. and Mrs. Cessford were there too,” Weston said. “And since they’re such good friends with Shaw’s parents… well… it might get passed on, all the way to Darryl.”

Dad nodded, understanding evident on his face as he chewed on the bite he’d taken while Weston spoke.

“I would feel really weird calling them and telling them not to tell Shaw’s parents, but I really don’t want them to, and I don’t want Shaw’s parents to tell Shaw, or Darryl,” Weston added.

“I know you’re worried about Andie’s wellbeing,” Dad said. “But you can’t necessarily keep her a secret forever. Her identity’s going to get out there eventually, so you’ll just have to hope that the bad things you’ve been imagining will happen won’t.”

Weston sighed, not terribly encouraged by the fact that Dad didn’t have any suggestions for how he could prevent the information from getting out at all, but unable to deny that Dad was right.

“Remember, Darryl has always been odd and unpredictable, and even though he’s been especially so of late, that doesn’t guarantee that the worst of the worst things you’re anticipating will ever happen,” Dad went on. “But, no matter what, I promise that if there seems to be even the tiniest shred of reason to believe that what you’re afraid of happening might happen, I will do everything I can to ensure Andie’s safety for the entirety of the time she’s under my roof, both during this visit, and any and all future visits.”

Even if that hadn’t entirely been what Weston had wanted to hear, he had to admit that he was grateful for it. He was sure it would’ve happened even if Dad hadn’t pledged it would aloud, but to be able to hear the assurance was particularly encouraging.

“Thanks,” Weston said.

Dad nodded, his gaze showing his paternal affection in its usual somewhat reserved way. “You’re welcome.”