Writing Exercise- The Moment I Fell In Love

Posted on by April-Rose Appleby

I don’t know where to start with this, “The Moment I Fell In Love” exercise, so it may well be a surprise.

Well, I know it doesn’t sound right, and I know it won’t make sense. I doubt it was via  I.M. but you see, a special familiarity is formed when you message someone until past six in the morning and only stop because you have no choice. After all it was past six in the morning.

I suppose it could have been that day, well night, had I have let it happen that way. Instead somehow I think it happened twice.

We met over the internet, the way a modern love story would. We talked for a while, it was so familiar. I remember, just a little, the journey to the train station, the brief slightly out of breath rush texting and trying to beat my way to the station before the train came in. It was raining, as it always does in London. I remember waiting by the little bike shed by the station, anxious nervous, not really knowing who or what to expect. I remember being told to look for a long umbrella and black coat, and that was it. I had no expectations, I didn’t really know who I was waiting for and somehow I knew. The man with the umbrella, the smile and somehow I knew it was him. The world fell away and this strangers face suddenly became every conversation we had ever had, I knew it was him. I didn’t know who or what I was waiting for, I walked their with no expectations just nervous excitement. This strange man with dark hair and a sweet smile had become everything we had shared, the conversations, the laughing and joking, just it became him.

It is those two seconds perhaps in that smile and me making the connections that it was him, those two seconds letting the world fall into place, I started to fall in love, with him.

It was perhaps that same day, well evening by then that I can say that was the moment. I had spent most of that date itching desperate for him to just kiss me, the connection the flirting it was all so solid. He was nervous and somehow I knew he wasn’t going to make the move, I was too tense and too curious that I couldn’t wait longer. I did it, I kissed him, it was while he was mid sentence, and I caved. It was then in that moment perhaps, I didn’t know it then at the time.  But all I knew was I didn’t want to run, with every first kiss so far I had wanted to run and it had been a disaster and I would beat myself up for not running, this time I just didn’t want to run away. I wanted to stay, and ever since I have never been able to walk away, no matter how bad it gets, it has gotten better. That first kiss is the moment I fell in love.

A little more about me

Posted on by April-Rose Appleby

A little more about me.

I am shy. In person, unless I really have to be otherwise, in my natural state, I am shy. I like to be polite.

To those who haven’t guessed yet, I am female.

I love to write, especially “strong” female characters because hey why not?

I have a dog, I would love another dog, but all in good time. I absolutely love dogs, in general, staffies freak me out though, there is something about the jaw that unnerves me. I had my dog at 8 weeks old potty trained within two days, with only eight accidents over his first week to two weeks.

I love my best friends, they are the family I have chosen. I have a “brother” and three “sisters” that are actually friends that are that close. I don’t generally consider myself extremely social with many out of my circle but that suits me fine.

I am in my early twenties, but I feel much older, possibly because I have always been wiser then my years. I don’t drive but I want to, I honestly can’t afford to learn let alone drive a car of my own, the same goes for motor bikes, I wish I could learn to drive one of them, when I was little my uncle let me ride on his bike with him, it was fun but my nana and mother forbid me to ever learn or get one of my own. I am starting to ignore their rules slowly more and more so who knows maybe one day I will be riding a motorbike.

I honestly stumbled on my love of writing as a way to deal with traumas in my personal life and so I turned to writing to both confront and escape from the things that were destroying me from within. Writing has become a powerful tool but it is also now a passion and something that I am a slave of.

 

I also have an amazon  author page for those interest the link is here.

My twitter page.

My  Facebook page.

 

Writing Exercise- Monster in the Darkness

Posted on by April-Rose Appleby

Have you ever noticed? In that time just before you go to sleep, when everything is dark, and you are left alone with your thoughts, you are never really alone. Because in that darkness, there is something there waiting, watching. You can feel its breath on your toes, and its the fastest you move, your feet are diving under the blankets no matter how hot you are, because you are afraid.

You wonder is it a ghost? Is it real?

But here is the secret I am afraid to tell. Sometimes, I think that the monster is me.

I think I know what it is. When you were a child, did you have an imaginary friend? I did, I had many, perhaps too many. I was a lonely child. But I grew up and some how I’ve lost or forgotten my imaginary friends. I can’t quite remember what they looked like, or what they would look like now. I barely remember a name or their voice. In fact, I remember so little that my imaginary friend is now a ghost, a faint memory. That thing we feel at the quiet moments, the thing watching us in your sleep is the ghost of those forgotten friends.

What do they want now? To be seen or heard? To be known? To be loved? To be the friend they were or to get revenge, for it is after all our own memory, our growing up that killed them.

It is the child we were, the one we barely remember that we wish we could become again watching from the corner of the room, asking what have I become? Who am I now?

Do the answers scare you? Or is it the questions, the ones we cannot answer?

I am the monster waiting at the end of the bed, the forgotten memories, the child hoping to be so much more, angry they are so much less. I am the thing waiting in the darkness, my own worst enemy, my own monster.

The Darker Path

Posted on by April-Rose Appleby

Well, it was fun, but a challenge to remain honest without chastising, I know people like the characters and they are to some degree based on them, and although it could be the harshest light shining at the most negative, and the most positive trait of someone, it lacks a degree of tactful flattery.

The Darker Path has also got a clear progressive possibility, but the task was to create the opening, not the beginning middle and end, although I can see how, where, and whys to the characters futures, the plot line if it were to continue is already clear in my mind. Perhaps progressing this story wouldn’t be the best of ideas. It is simple and it is hard all at the same time to navigate a degree of control. To control the urge to continue on a story, that perhaps would distract from the time that you allocate or are willing to give. when there is a story out of the corner of your eye that deserves undivided attention. Something that has bubbled under the surface growing slowly into the perfect and completely horribly complicated incredibly imperfect story that has been gnawing at the back of your thoughts every day, just waiting to be ready.

The Darker Path was fun, it reminded me of the sassy things I wish I had said a long time ago, the sassy things I would have said if I had the balls. Its the teenage angst bottled up, that time just before your in your twenties and expected to really be a grown up now. That time, that horrid horrid time.

Writing Exercise- The Darker Path (3)

Posted on by April-Rose Appleby

Chapter Four

Its strange but the more time I spend with Seb and Eddy the more convinced I am the more convinced I am that they are hiding something. Although whats stranger is as I spend more time with Seb the less frequent that nightmare has become. I suspect its been replaced with the sensation of being watched, whether that is down to paranoia, delusions or this curiosity I have no idea, and Seb clearly has no intention of sedating the subject.

Mind you the elephant in the room is Lilly and her ridiculous tantrums lately. Possibly because she hasn’t been getting attention for a while, I’ve been too busy house hunting on the quiet, not involving her in what I’m doing. Or perhaps not being exclusively around her at the moment has certainly put her nose out of joint.

It possibly didn’t help matters when Seb and Eddy came over while Lilly was at work. “It may just be the sofa for now, simply because I am house hunting but you two are more then welcome to come to the new place. You know if you had any special features I could consider keeping an eye out for them?”

“If it has a basement I’m in for sure” Eddy grinned. Seb nodded.

Nipping to the bar for a spot of dinner after the boys had moved their stuff in to the house was a great idea. Slightly less great when Lilly came in and sat down with us.

Eddy raised a glass without thinking and toasted “to the new house” Seb caught my eye as we sipped our drinks praying that Lilly hadn’t noticed. Unfortunately I wasn’t as lucky as I had hoped. An interrogation later and she knew I planned to move. There was a few seconds of quiet after she asked when I planned on letting her know, she was on the edge of another one of her tantrums and I really didn’t  have the patience to put up with her crap this evening. “Well you can either rent the house or move out.” She took a second before she said, “you know, I think I will move in with you, you can’t get rid of me if you tried”

“You don’t say” Seb mouthed under his breath, he’s right, I’ve been trying for years, some how  couldn’t respond.

Back at the house Seb, Eddy and I were sat at the table while Lilly lounged on the sofa making a list of requirements for the new house. I sat talking with the boys as we made a practical list. “So Eddy you want the basement? Seb you prefer the kitchen to be simple open plan? I think that is doable.” Lilly sauntered over and handed me a list, “you want a paved garden, massive bedroom, walk in wardrobe, en suite, office, pink bathroom and a jacuzzi. Right.” I scrunched up the list and threw it from my chair into the bin. “What did you do that for?”

“Hmm let me see, its unreasonable, and oh yeah its not going to happen.”

“But they got what they wanted on the list!”

Chapter Five

I over heard Seb and Eddy discussing a nearby woods on y way to go and make a cup of tea, and to be honest this wasn’t the first hushed conversation I had stumbled upon today.  I had heard some talk of a full moon, but at that tie of the morning, I didn’t think anything of it. That was, of course, until Eddy told Lilly he had to go on a work retreat over night. Lilly suspected nothing, but Eddy is a bad liar. Of course I kept it quiet, with Seb watching like a hawk now wasn’t the tie to discuss lies or suspicions.

When Lilly and I were finally alone she declared we had to follow Eddy having decided he was cheating on her, her intention was to catch him in the act. We followed Eddy at a distance into the woods he had talked about earlier.

Being dragged forwards by Lilly I had that sinking feeling as we went further and further into the trees, not paying enough attention to a car parking up. Slowly we found ourselves standing at a small unlocked gate that lead into the mouth of a small cave that Eddy had disappeared into without hesitation.

I felt a cold tight hand grasping my free wrist as Lilly made to drag us further towards Eddy. Looking behind for the first time since Lilly started the pursuit I came face to face with Seb. Like a child caught in the act of wrong doing I couldn’t reach his gaze. Lilly quickly began to protest to resume the pursuit loudly as we heard footsteps approaching in the cave behind us, as Eddy quickly shut the gate, locking it and demanding that we leave, as he let out an agonizing, blood curdling scream.

I felt Seb’s grip on my wrist tighten as he pulled Lilly and I back to stop us getting any closer. For the first tie I watched Lilly at a loss for words. Breaking free she went straight to the gate trying to see where Eddy had disappeared to.  Before Seb could pull her back Eddy had lunged at her, with bright amber eyes he swiped his growing claws at her out stretched hand, his skin splitting. Seb sprung into action dragging us away. Pausing finally to lead Lilly by the  hand, I could see blood dripping from her. I pulled Lilly to face me, took her left hand  mine and lifted the torn sleeve, her wrist was scratched.

When we got to the hospital we had to tell them she had caught it on some nails, although I don’t know if the tetanus jab could really do any good. For the first time I watched Lilly at a loss for real words, she just remained silent. Even walking into the house seemed different, the quiet seemed to echo. I told Seb in no uncertain terms to wait there and make some tea while I put Lilly to bed.

Now he couldn’t deny answers, I took the tea waiting for him to finally speak. “I’m sorry, Lilly was never meant to, you were never meant to, you deserve the truth, he’s a werewolf.” I waited to feel something, anything; fear, surprise, shock, disbelief but none came. “I kind of guessed that. So if the monsters that hide under the bed are real, what’s your deal? Because I know that isn’t your secret, what’s your excuse? I heard you follow us, you could have stopped this, stopped us at any time, why not?” The silence dragged, “I was selfish. I wanted to tell you, but you would never have believed without proof, you would run for miles and miles, and you still might. If you wanted to you could,  I am sorry Lilly got hurt, but Demi, you have to know I love you.” I couldn’t reply, he had more explaining to do, and quite frankly now was not the time for the first “I love you” in the relationship. “You have to know I love you and would never hurt you, yes I am filled with hunger, just like you said. I have done terrible things, I am cursed, I have hurt and killed so any people than I ever want to count.”

I know I should feel scared but I couldn’t believe it, it didn’t feel real. His eyes turned as black as coal and he revealed fangs sprouting in his mouth, as quickly as it had come, his demonic face returned to the kind features I had come to know. “With you I a safer, the hunger is gone, I don’t need blood, I need you.” His head dropped, I took his hand and sat him on the sofa.

We sat and talked, everything from his past, his blood lust, his memories. I looked into his eyes and reminded him of the night we met. Finally I explained about the ring, the psychotic ex, the feeling of being watched. He told me about how he became this thing, this vampire, what he remembered about his victims, my own curiosity surprised him, when I asked what he remembered he replied with one word, “everything”. I stopped asking questions, now I asked for a promise, “should there be no other choice, no other way, will you trust me? Can you turn me? There is only a  matter of time until Mark makes good on his promise, please.” He was reluctant to agree, when he did a new feeling spread over me, relief. Relief that now I had an option. Even in the darkness I felt safer as we fell asleep on the sofa.