(Still) Floating on Air

I don't have to post the word count at the top of the posts anymore because I figured out how to get the word count widget in the sidebar thanks to Heather. As you can see, I'm trucking right along. I'm ahead of the game by just a little more than a day. I'm hoping to eventually get two days ahead which I will if I keep a steady pace. Here's to hoping that will happen.

You may also have noticed while checking out my word count that there are two different widgets, one that shows my word count bar plus a little calendar that shows how I do on separate days of the month and one that shows me and a mysterious someone else. This is my friend Madeline. She and I are sort of competing to see who can get the most words, or are we competing to see who wins first? Maybe we're just comparing and having fun together. Yeah, let's go with that one. She's a little behind but knowing her she'll probably catch up to me when I'm least expecting it.

It's the second day of NaNo which means I have a new picture of me to post which was, of course, taken by the wonderful Lizzie.

I have this weird habit of holding my ponytail (if I'm wearing one) while I'm concentrating so that's what I'm doing here (besides writing). You see that book in the side slot thing? That's my copy of No Plot? No Problem! And that shirt I'm wearing? My grandparents brought it to me all the way from Rome. Just a little piece of pointless information I felt like sharing. XD

I have noticed one major thing that I keep messing up in my NaNo novel. I keep switching my tenses. I'll be writing in past and then I'll glance up and I've suddenly started writing present tense. For some strange reason this makes me happy. My novel has a flaw (besides the many run-on sentences that I've accumulated already) and that is awesome because it's supposed to be that way. I'm also happy about it because it's not bugging me and I'm not itching to fix it. This is incredible for me because I might just have a smidge of OCD. You should see my room. It's probably the cleanest and most organized room of any thirteen-year-old ever.

Following one of the suggestions given by the NaNo staff I've found ways to reward myself for reaching my word count goal. For instance, today we (my father and I, majorly shocking) went to Wal-Mart and I got a pomegranate. I really love pomegranate seeds, or more accurately the little juice pouch things they're enclosed in. So after making a huge mess extracting all the seeds, I promptly put them in a container and shut them away in the fridge. I told myself I could eat some of them once I had finished typing my words for the day (I write in a notebook during school, as you can see in the pictures). Another reward I give myself (or that I will) is watching Total Drama World Tour (I'm a nerd, okay?). It comes on on Mondays. I've set the DVR to record all new episodes and I've determined that I will not watch it until Friday, if I'm caught up on my word count goal. If I'm not, I have to wait to watch it until I am.

And now to see you off I have a video (I figured it out, so many discoveries today) and a small excerpt from my NaNo. Here's to hoping you won't run away screaming after you read it.

 

And that’s when I remembered and realized my biggest mistake.

Tass wasn’t going to be at my back, at least not until I lapsed and forgot again. Forgot this horrible detail that was burning straight into my brain, leaving a brand that I knew wouldn’t be permanent. Suddenly one of Clarence’s many drills resurfaced in my mind, bubbling to the surface. [Never go on a mission alone. Never. Do you all understand? If you ever do such a thing, and actually managed not to get killed, it won’t help you in the slightest because as soon as you get your ass back here, I’m going to kill you.] I’m on the edge of bursting out hysterically laughing. And why not? I’ve already been shot. [Does it count if I went alone unintentionally?] I can imagine Clarence pondering this question. It’s an image I should probably work hard to remember. I won’t be seeing it again any time soon. My shoulder throbs painfully reminding me of my situation. Or maybe I will.

Star’s laugh bubbles through my head, how I used to think it was the most annoying sound ever. Now I’m on the edge of tears, if only I could hear it for real now. Outside of my head, through my ears and not my mind. [Oh, Star, you little blonde bubblehead, how I’ve missed you. Why? Why did those stupid bastards do it? How could they bring themselves to do it?] Laughter is bubbling up again. Her waves were manipulating my feelings again, tic for tac, as she used to say, for my waves manipulating her thoughts. But then it’s not her real waves anymore, just the empty memory of them. Empty cold memories that are eating away at my mind. How could they do that to me? Wait, it’s not their faults, it’s those government dicks, the same ones that are standing right in front of me. And rage is suddenly the dominant emotion.

These fuckers are staring at me like I’m crazy, which I know I am. Just to freak them out more I allow a slow smile to creep across my face, knowing it makes me look almost vampirish, I’ve practice it in the mirror tons of time. My body is screaming at me and even as laughter starts to bubble out of my mouth, I start to fall. I’m on the ground and the man with the strange hat is standing over me with an expression between joy and fear on his face but I don’t care.

Because the truth is, the thing I’ve finally remembered is that Tass, Clarence, Star, all of my team, are dead.