The Special Chocolates

“Blech! That tastes awful!” Mr. Tippner looked down at his bowl of GrapeNuts cereal and saw the orange liquid. OOPS! He had accidentally poured orange juice into his cereal instead of milk. He was feeling pretty sleepy this morning.

Mason almost tripped walking down his stairs. He needed his coffee. Pouring himself a cup, he held it in one hand as he opened the refrigerator to grab some eggs.

Made himself some scrambled eggs. Got out the ketchup to put on them and then wondered where his coffee cup was. What had he done with it? When he put the ketchup back in the fridge he got his answer. It was sitting on the shelf where the carton of eggs had been. The eggs were still sitting on the counter.

Shaking his head he felt like he should go back to bed, for he was feeling rather dopey.

Cara woke up feeling happy. The day had come and she was all ready for it. She snuk Bard’s surprise into his lunchbox and gave him a kiss goodbye. Chuckling as she closed the door.

A half hour later she was ready to leave with her box of chocolate candy.

Mason kept dropping things at work. Cara laughed, calling him butterfingers. “Perhaps you need a nap!” Cara said.

The bell jangled and Tippner came in the door. He walked over to his favorite booth in the coffee shop and sat down. He wasn’t sitting long before he started sneezing.

After sneezing 6x in a row Cara asked if he needed to see a Doc when she came to take his order.

“Nah! Its only my allergies acting up.” Then he sneezed again. Mason came out of the backroom and hearing Tippner sneezing he spoke up.

“He probably is allergic to those new weeds you put at every table.” Mason said to Cara.

Cara made a face. “They aren’t weeds, they are flowers.” she retorted. Tippner sneezed again.

“Like I was saying..he is allergic to the yellow weeds.” Mason said to Cara as he walked away.

Tippner ended up taking his raspberry hot chocolate to go, for he kept sneezing and it was making him grumpy. Besides he had to get back to his store. There were bikes to sell now that the weather was getting nicer.

Walking down the sidewalk on his way to the bike shop he saw Jake coming toward him. Jake was holding something behind his back. When he got closer he sprayed Mr. Tippner with silly string.

“Heyyy what do you think you are doing?”

Jake grinned as he quickly sprayed again before running off. Mr. Tippner heard him yelling. “Don’t you know what day it is?” yelled Jake.

Well of course he knew what day it was, thought Tippner. He may be feeling a little grumpy but he wasn’t too dopey to know what day it was. Why it was Thursday and the beginning of April. Tippner shook his head. Crazy kid!

Meanwhile Mason was whistling as he worked. The day was going well, lots of customers coming in. Everyone was out today, with fhe beautiful weather on the first day of April.

Sara entered the coffee shop and patiently waited for Cara to finish waiting on the customers that were ahead of her.

Cara finished taking their order and greeted Sara with a hug. “I am almost ready to leave for lunch. Let me just refill Joshua’s cup for him.”

“Oh Joshua is here, I will go chat a little, while you finish up.” Sara said.

She pulled out a chair across from Joshua and he smiled, always enjoying to have someone to share a story with. He started telling Sara about one of his day’s at sea in a fishing boat, when a storm came.

Cara grabbed her box of chocolates and came to Joshua’s table telling Sara she was ready to go. They wished Joshua a good day and started walking towards the door.

“Hey Mason would you like to try some chocolate candy?” Cara asked walking towards the register where he was.

“Sure, thanks!” Mason said, grabbing 2 of them and popping them into his mouth.

Mason’s face got red and he spit out the candy! “Wha-wha!”

“Would you like some water?”

Cara handed him a glass. “Guess I put a little too many jalepeno peppers in the chocolate.” she said with a smirk.

Mason’s eyes grew like saucers.

“You do know what day today is, right? Happy April Fool’s!” Cara said, laughing with Sara as they walked out the door, headed to Tippner’s bicycle shop. There were more special chocolates to deliver.

Tuesday’s Thoughts!

Happy Tuesday! Listening to Blackmore’s Night, as I look for quotes. Always need some good music to listen to when I work on posts. Tuesday’s though are usually the only days I listen to music with lyrics. When writing stories I just like having relaxing instrumental music in the background. Do you listen to music when working on posts? If so, what kind? 

I hope you can enjoy some good music while taking a few moments to relax and read the following quotes. As always, feel free to share which one or ones you liked the most. Have a wonderful day! 

 

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Dandelion Wishes

Image from Pinterest

Looking back through the old pictures of her photo album her gaze lingered on this picture. As a child she loved blowing on dandelions and making a wish. When she got older she knew that dandelions had no magic powers, but it was still fun to blow on one, and pretend that her wish would come true. 

Smiling, Ava let her mind go back in time, remembering the different wishes she had made. She had wished for a unicorn but surprisingly one never showed up. Then she changed it to a horse, but was disappointed once again. 

Sometimes her wishes were for Bobby, the next door neighbor, to stop pestering her. That wish didn’t work either, but as he got older he didn’t turn out too bad. 

When she was 9 she remembered blowing on as many dandelions as she could wishing for a little puppy. Addison’s Mom got her a puppy and Susie had a puppy, Ava wanted one too! She still remembered the keen disappointment she felt when Daddy brought a kitty home for her instead. It didn’t take long though for Ava to fall in love with the black and white kitty. That first night it curled up on her chest, purring, and she was hooked. She named it Oreo after her favorite snack. There was nothing better than dipping her Oreo cookies into milk. After she ate all her Oreos she would give Oreo the rest of her milk to drink. They both loved snack time. 

Who knew that Oreo would ignite in her a forever love of animals. She had special pets as she grew up and she continued when she got a place of her own. She now owned 3 cats and 1 dog, they all got along well and she couldn’t imagine life without them. 

She had been working as the Director of the local shelter for 3 years now and it brought her happiness to be able to help the precious dogs and cats find forever homes. 

Her friends joked with her that she may be scaring away  MR. Right with her house full of animals, but that didn’t matter to her. Who needed men, she would always tell them. 

Closing the photo album Ava stood up, much to the annoyance of Midnight that had been lying on her lap. Asher the Golden Retriever followed Ava with his eyes and when he saw her heading towards the door he got up to follow. He was always glad to take a romp outside. 

Out the door they went and Ava watched Asher running around in the backyard, which was full of dandelions. She probably was the only neighbor that never mowed them down right away. She would wait until they covered her yard. Now she picked one up and reminded herself of her past motto that she didn’t need a guy. So why was she now picking up a dandelion, thinking about making a wish on a guy? 

But Bobby wasn’t just any guy, she told herself. They had lost touch for awhile after going separate directions but recently they had caught up at their Highschool reunion and Ava was surprised by the stirrings in her heart. He had asked her out for tomorrow night, she heard herself saying yes, before she could stop herself. Closing her eyes, she blew on the dandelion, making a wish. Who knows, maybe Dandelion wishes can come true! 

 

Sunday’s Rare Facts!

A rainy, blustery day here. Thought I would end your weekend with some crazy facts to ponder on once again. There seems to be an endless supply of them! Don’t worry though, I am not going to post all of them! Enjoy! 

 

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I feel sorry for the sailors, for I know what a ruptured ear drum feels like!

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Well isn’t that sweet, the male fox hangs onto the love of his mate forever!

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Didn’t know crows were clever and pranksters too!

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Hmmm,,,, not sure about this, someone want to try it and let me know if your hot cocoa tasted better out of an orange cup and for you strong coffee drinkers, how dark is your favorite coffee mug?

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This made me smile! “Not talking back” is a great attribute of pets!

Getting Even

The following story is the conclusion to Wednesday’s post. One Strange Night 

 

“Do you have any fish? I am feeling rather hungry.” the cat looked at Starla, who still stood motionless, looking back at the cat in wonder! 

The cat jumped up onto the white leather couch, tearing a hole in it with its claws. Starla winced as she yelled, “What  are you doing?”  

“Oh, so you can talk! Good to know, now can we get down to business.” replied the cat, totally ignoring her question, as it stretched out on the couch. 

Starla was shaking her head as she sat down. “What are you talking about , why are you here?” she asked.  

“I need your help!”, at least I am hoping you can help me!” 

Starla didn’t say how she didn’t have a real helpful feeling right now, looking at the hole that he had put in her couch. She didn’t want any other holes in her couch, but she was feeling intrigued. Why would he think she could help him? 

“Do you have magical powers at all?” the cat asked. 

“No, can’t say that I have any magical powers.” Starla replied, thinking that if she did, she would make her annoying co-worker Jeff disappear! 

The cat leaped up, digging his claws into the couch as Starla groaned. “Get down now!” she yelled, which he promptly did. 

“Well I see that I had you pegged all wrong! I should have known that you know nothing!” 

“I most certainly don’t know nothing! You know you are getting annoying, why do you need magical powers?” Starla asked. 

“Look at me! I’m a cat! Starla do you not recognize me?” 

“Recognize you? I don’t know any cats!” she retorted. 

“Its me Jeff, from work.” 

“Jeff??? But how??” Starla was trying to contain her laughter.  Now that he mentioned it, his voice was familiar. It was a voice that she tried to forget and one she never thought she would hear coming from a cat! 

“I was out the other day taking a hike in the woods, and I came to this really beautiful waterfalls. Rested there awhile and then the next thing I know I am opening up my eyes to some real scary fairy looking at me and chanting something. Suddenly I was a cat! I ran out of there as fast as I could!”

“Oh, so that’s why you didn’t show up at work today. The boss was pretty mad!” 

Jeff groaned. “I need your help! I can’t stay a cat.” 

Starla could no longer hold back her laughter, as she started shooing him out of her door with her broom. 

“Hey! Be nice!”” Jeff meowed. 

“Maybe you should have been nicer at work.” With those words she swung the broom and sent him flying out of her room into the hallway and closing the door. 

Starla was so amused. Most likely this was a dream. Maybe she was more tired then she thought she had been. She would probably wake up tomorrow, go to work and see his annoying face again, but for now she would savor this moment! Even if it was a dream, she didn’t know if she would be able to look at him with a straight face tomorrow, and starting to laugh again she headed to her bedroom to go to bed. 

Friday’s Super Short Stories!

Stepping into the sunshine with sandals, makes my feet smile! 

When Opportunity lands in your lap … with nervous excitement you go for it! 

Feeling support for one’s dreams is a way that love speaks! 

One Strange Night

Starla rounded the corner and saw the cat. Its fur was a mottle of grays and a little black. Its eyes were very dark and they were fixated on her. It was crouched, poised, as if ready to pounce.

She never had been afraid of cats, but this one reminded her of a tiger in the jungle watching for its prey. It for sure didn’t look like it wanted stroked, so she quickly walked by, wondering at the strange feeling she had.

Reaching her apartment she flashed her key card, but the light flashed red and the door wouldn’t open. Starla tried again and finally after a couple more tries it opened. She was going to have to ask for a new card tomorrow. This card must be wearing out.

Kicking off her shoes at the door she walked down the hall to her bedroom. Changed into more comfortable clothes and heated up the oven.

Pulling a frozen pepperoni pizza out she grabbed some shredded cheese from the fridge and sprinkled it on the pizza. One could not have too much cheese.

After 15 minutes the pizza was ready and her teapot was whistling. She poured herself a cup of Green tea, and sat down at the table with a couple of hot slices of pizza.

The apartment was quiet, usually she had some TV show on like Law and Order or a medical drama, but for now the silence was relaxing. It had been one crazy, hectic day at the office.

Her boss was breathing down her neck wanting her project done a week before it was due! He was a man of little patience, but Starla had learned that his bark was worse than his bite.

She was well aware of his confidence in her, so he didn’t intimidate her as much. He may grunt and growl about her taking too long, but she knew he would wait. This was a big architectural project that she had taken on, she needed all the time she could have.

Heading up the renovation of a mall wasn’t easy. It was sad how malls all over the place were becoming like ghost towns. The Red Canyon Mall had been sitting empty for a year, it was time to do something. Starla did feel excitement stirring in her over the new plans.

Hearing a sound she put down her cup of tea and walked towards the door. It sounded like something was scratching at it. Should she open it?

Keeping the chain across she opened it a little bit. Something brushed against her leg and she jumped back, closing the door!

“We need to talk.” the deep bass voice said.

Starla looked down and was speechless, finding herself looking into the dark eyes of the cat that she had seen earlier.

.. to be continued…

Tuesday’s Thoughts!

Happy Tuesday! The sun is shining, I am off work today and I have an iced salted caramel latte beside me, what more could I want? Both of my kids were home this morning too, which typically doesn’t happen, with everyone’s different schedules. Poor Brad is at work, but he will be home later. I hope your day has started off on a good note, and maybe even a sweet one, depending what you had to drink this morning. Enjoy the following quotes and I hope you can find some that connect with you! 

 

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A Mama Knows

Image of a painting from Pinterest

Michelle felt sick to her stomach. It was like she being tossed by the waves, even though she was lying on her forest green couch which was very still. Closing her eyes she tried to fight against the waves, tried to deny what was causing them, but no matter how hard she tried the flashbacks rushed into her brain.

Why? Why now? It had been 4 years of Michelle successfully holding the pain in. She thought she was doing fine, and now out of the blue, it was like the band aid was ripped off her heart as it bled again. The past week it had felt like an octopus squeezing her and not letting go. Squeezing the pain out, whether she wanted it to come out or not. Like her Mom had always said, there is a point where the lid can’t stay on the pot any longer. A simmering pot will boil over!

Forcing herself up from the couch she decided to take a walk. Getting outside might help her be able to breathe again. She was sweating and needed some fresh air.

The cool wind hit her when she opened the door, it was blowing a little harder than she had thought, but that was fine. It was what she needed. She pulled her jacket a little tighter around her and walked out into the wind. Maybe it would pick her up and carry her away. Perhaps she could be like Dorothy and go flying into the air landing in some magical place where wishes could be granted by the great wizard! Though the wizard didn’t really turn out to be such a great wizard after all!

Michelle sighed and walked at a brisk pace. After walking for a little while she knew where she had to go. Her brain said No, but her heart knew she had to go and her feet listened to her heart. She started walking in the direction of the Golden Dawn Retirement Home.

Walking up to the front doors, her heart started hammering in her chest. Many times she had been here, but never had she come planning to spill her heart. She walked in through the doors.

“Hi Michelle!” Gayle, the receptionist welcomed her. “Your Momma told me you would be coming today.”

“I didn’t tell her I was coming.”

Gayle smiled, “It doesn’t matter honey whether you told her or not, Momma’s always know.”

Michelle gave a weak smile. Her Momma might know a lot, but she was sure that she didn’t know why Michelle was coming today. Michelle had perfected the art of keeping her pain and resentment inside.

Her Mom looked up from the puzzle that she was working on and spotted Michelle across the lobby, “Hi honey! I knew you would be here today! Come on over and help me with this puzzle.”

Michelle didn’t really feel in the mood to put a puzzle together, but she knew when her Mom was working on something she didn’t like to stop. She pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with her.

“Where is the box so I can see the whole picture?” Michelle asked.

“Oh you don’t need the lid, just work on the red pieces right now.”

Michelle stared at her Mom, how did she expect her to put a puzzle together when she didn’t even know what the picture was? Her Mom was passing some red pieces over to her and Michelle sighed, as she started trying to fit puzzle pieces together to see what they would form.

Her Mom didn’t talk much which was normal for when she was in deep concentration on a puzzle.

It didn’t take too long of steadily working until the puzzle was just about complete. Her Mom moved the final pieces over to Michelle to put in. With tears in her eyes Michelle put in the final letter. Her Mom rose up from her chair and walked over to Michelle, who was standing up now gazing upon the picture. They hugged, no words were needed, and the tumultuous waves in Michelle’s stomach had stopped churning. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she cried, letting go and letting peace flow through her heart like a river.

Clearing Up the Confusion!

The following images may look familiar to you, but you may be surprised by who they actually are. If you are confused, don’t worry, I will clear it all up for you, just continue reading. 

Lisette

Amanda, after all she does own a castle now.

Cara

Mason

Mr. Tippner

Bard

 

It has been suggested to me a few times that I create a character guide, about the characters of my stories. That it would help my followers keep the characters straight in their head. I understand that it can get confusing to keep everyone’s names straight and who they are. Truthfully I have been confused before, even though they are my characters! The following list is not a complete list for that would take way too long and a lot of the characters in my stand alone stories you won’t hear from again, BUT …. the list is compiled of characters that are in my continuing stories. I thought it would make it a little more interesting to read if I included pictures of the characters too. I wasn’t able to get everyone’s picture but I did include a few. If they look familiar to you, it is probably just a coincidence. Enjoy and I hope this helps to keep your mind clear of confusion, though if you have been reading my stories for awhile now, you know that confusion is still likely to happen. 🙂 

Characters from the town of Borden

Lisette-the owner of the Bed and Breakfast Inn. She came to Borden by the powers of a magical cowbell, which continues to show up in my stories. A kind and gracious lady who makes delicious food, and is friends with the people in Bittersweet Creek. 

Amanda – had been staying with Lisette trying to figure out what to do with her life! Recently came to learn that she has inherited her grandparent’s castle. She has now gone to spend more time with her grandparent’s, but she may be back. 

Mr. Fluff and Mr. Nutter –  the owners of  The Fluffer Nutter Shoppe.  The place for  great ice cream, donuts and coffee. Friendly, and a tad nutty, but are always eager to chat with you and try to beat you in a game of chess or checkers. 

Luke – the cop who was well known in my Annie/Anna/Tonya series, and has now taken a backseat since Anna was caught and is now dead. But he still may show up at times in my stories working with his brother Patrick who is an FBI agent. He also is the owner of a special cow who will be talked about later. 

Characters from the town of Bittersweet Creek ( Jason, another blogger actually created Bittersweet Creek and the characters, in what he thought was a stand alone story, but … the characters had other plans. The last 2 characters were thanks to another blogger Keith. ) 

Mason Picklefoot – handsome owner of the best coffee shop in town! All the ladies vie for his attention, though he remains humble through it all. Apparently he attracts water to himself too. He has had experience with a dunk tank, falling out of a canoe, getting rained on due to a leaky tent and getting a bucket of water thrown on him. 

Cara – an amazing waitress who works at the coffee shop. She is sweet, just like her tasty coffee lattes. She tries to help Mason with women, for she may like being a matchmaker, wanting everyone to be as happy as her and Bard. Its a hard job, but she is up to the challenge. 

Sara- she is Cara’s friend and owns the beautiful flower shop in town. She used to help Lisette out at the Inn, but moved to Bittersweet Creek. Cara thought she had the perfect match, Sara and Mason, but much to her surprise and Mason’s amusement, Sara fell for Grayson, Mason’s brother! 

Lexie – the new girl who has captured Mason’s eye, at least Cara is hoping that. It appears to be that way. 

Mr. Tippner – he is a friend of Mason’s and owns the bicycle shop. Cara once caused some damage in his bicycle shop but she prefers that everyone forgets that incident. Fortunately Bard was kind enough to pay for the damages, so there were no hard feeling with Mr. Tippner. 

Old Man Fuzzywhistle – he is a friend of Mason’s and Mr. Tippner too. He lives on a small farm with his prized cow Clarabelle and his adorable lamb, Creampuff, who one time escaped from the farm. Mason found him, which ended up causing him some embarrassment, much to the amusement of others, but that’s another story. 

Uncle Jake – he recently moved to Bittersweet Creek. Cara is enjoying getting to know his as he frequents the coffee shop,  His language may get salty at times, but he appears to be a very caring man. 

Joshua – Uncle Jake’s nephew who comes and visits him on the weekends and will spend the summer with him. A young lad who likes to play tricks! 

Some other story characters who you may hear from again! 

Jacob – he was the private investigator that Amanda’s grandparents hired to track her and her Mother down. Sadly her Mother had passed away earlier in a car accident. 

Kimberly – a detective who reached out to Jacob for help when she found an abandoned girl, Molly. Little Molly captured her heart and Jacob did too. Kimberly’s dream of having a family came true when she fell in love, got married and adopted Molly. 

Molly – an abandoned little girl who Kimberly found along the road surrounded by a bunch of white rabbits. She was mute for a long time, but Kimberly got her the help she needed and she has started to talk. All the rabbits disappeared one day, but one stayed behind and has stuck by Molly’s side ever since. No one knows why Molly was abandoned, but one day details may surface. 

Lawrence – a magician whose rabbits suddenly disappeared to stay by Molly when she was abandoned on the road. They then came back to him. Lawrence found a magical cowbell at a park one day and was last seen in a gondola in Italy. 

                                                                                    Last but definitely not Least!

Betsy – the cow owned by Luke. A cow who was thought to be just your ordinary, sweet cow in the beginning but has proven much the opposite! She is the wonder cow! She has had many crazy adventures and continues too. You really never know where she is. and what she is capable of doing.  She does not like that other people seem to keep getting hold of her magical cow bell.