Things to do while camping

1. Hike though a river.
2. Practice archery.
3. Drink hot chocolate while avoiding large insects.
4. Hide in the tent during a storm and write.
5. Try not to get lost when explaining how to use a compass.
6. Watch the sun rise above a sea of trees.
7. Spend a few moments quietly enjoying nature.
8. Study any wildlife you may encounter from a safe distance.
9. Laugh with your friends in the middle of the night.
10. Enjoy a time away of electronic devices and the normal distractions of life.

Vacation in the forest

Out in the wilderness, sleeping in a tent.
Wearing a poncho whenever it gets wet.
Watching the birds sing in the trees.
Hike through water that's up to your knees!
Hoping extra socks will keep blisters from your feet.
Avoid the critters you don't want to meet.
Marching through the woods to practice navigation.
Almost forget that this is a vacation!

Animal Idioms

1. Curiosity killed the cat.
2. Hold your horses.
3. Kill two birds with one stone.
4. As strong as an ox.
5. Blind as a bat.
6. Have a tiger by the tail.
7. Play possum.
8. Deer in the headlights.
9. A lone wolf.
10. The straw that broke the camel's back.

The Djinn and The Vartija: Stalemate

Emrri

We entered the backyard, and I quickly led Muritage to the old tree-house. It had been built by a former owner of the house; probably for their children. I climbed up first, ignoring the pain in my left arm. After entering the small tree-house, I sat next to the first aid kit I kept up here. As I pulled out supplies to clean my arm, Muritage climbed in.

He wasn't happy, but neither was I. On a normal hunt, I bound the critter, then sent it off to wherever it came from. I never kept them around after binding.

But I couldn't send Muritage away. Not until I reclaimed what he stole.

Whatever that actually was.

I felt something missing, a gaping abyss in my heart.

After binding my arm, I stared at the djinn. He was lounged against the wall of the tree-house to avoid hitting his head on the low ceiling. Even with legs bent, his feet still pressed against the far wall. I smiled at his obvious discomfort.

"Now then, how about we skip the niceties and get to the part where you give me back what you stole?"

Muritage smirked, "Now why would I want to do that?"

I tapped my fingers against the floor, a slight frown forming as I pondered the djinn.

"Uh, because I asked nicely?"

He crossed his arms and tapped my leg with his foot. "Your inattention allowed me to retain some freedom. Could you possibly be so dim as to imagine I would relinquish it?"

He laughed, tilting his head to look at me. I sighed and shook my head.

"Shouldn't you be leaping to fulfill my every whim?" I asked. The charred journal that had taught me about vartija abilities had a few paragraphs about how a tamed critter would obey commands given to them.

Muritage held out his hand. The air above it rippled for a moment, then transformed into a dagger. As he balanced the blade, a smile formed.

"If I were a lesser being, then that might have been the case. But you are an untrained whelp. It was a fluke that you had enough raw ability to allure and subdue a djinn." He flicked his wrist. The dagger went thunk into the wood beside me. "If I had been any other member of my kind, you would have died without having laid eyes on me."

I frowned as I pulled out the dagger. "If that's true, why didn't you kill me then? Or at the cliff? You've had plenty of chances."

Muritage snapped his fingers. As the dagger disappeared, he studied the wall. "I was curious. You are the first vartija I have seen alive. The possibility that you would lead me to an infestation was an opportunity I could not afford to ignore."

I wonder if curiosity was his only reason. At least now I can officially put the djinn on my "avoid at all costs" list.

I smiled with a cheerfulness I did not currently feel. "Well, I suppose we are at a stalemate. You won't give me what I want. I won't send you off to wherever until I get back what is mine." Then I gasped and snapped my fingers. "And according to my book and your little knife trick, you can't harm the vartija who tamed you!"

Muritage released a feral growl as he transformed into a jackal and lunged at my throat. I waited for his jaws to close. I could see him struggling against whatever binding my abilities had created.

"I may not know everything about being a vartija, but this was one of the things I made certain to learn." I told him, patting the tip of his nose. Muritage recoiled from my touch; changing back to his human form in the process.

"Yet you leave your aura exposed, a rare delicacy to all who can sense it." He wrinkled his nose in disgust.

I smiled sheepishly and bow my head. "So it can be turned off? That's good to know! My book lost any pages detailing that ability."

Muritage groaned and bowed his head. "Your ignorance will be the death of us both."

I frowned as he bowed his head. "What do you mean by that?"

The djinn looked at me with skeptical eyes. "Because you have bound us, our lives are intertwined. If one dies, so does the other. That is the reason I cannot harm you."

Things you can do for Father's day

1. Thank your father for all that he does.
2. Prepare his favorite meal.
3. Spend time together.
4. Make a list of things you have done with your father.
5. Write him a letter.
6. Let your father take a nap.
7. Have a good attitude for the entire day.
8. Let your father know that you love him.
9. Be nice to your mother as well.
10. Do what your dad wants to do.

New freewrite (unfinished)

"How old are you?"
"Much too old for that question." Answered the fair boy. He appeared to be eight; with curly ash blond hair and blue-green eyes. Due to his appearance, many thought him a child. But in truth, Kastner Clemons was a Byrn: an ancient race of spellcasters which specialized in fire-magic and familiar summoning.
As a Byrn, Kastner was one of the High Lords within the Sparritcal Kingdom. The woman whom he currently spoke with was human; only recently brought into the Kingdom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is all; until the rest of this tale is straightened out, Kastner will have to relax.

Hopefully next week: Emrri and Muritage learn how to cooperate.

State meal of Oklahoma

1. Barbecued pork.
2. Chicken fried steak.
3. Sausages and gravy.
4. Biscuits.
5. Fried okra.
6. Squash.
7. Grits.
8. Corn.
9. Black-eyed peas.
10. Cornbread.

Terrarth- Dragons (version 1.0)

The sound of wings was an ever constant reminder that the war was far from won.

Nyroc and Nayra, two of the High Dragons charged with bringing this area to submission, were flying overhead. Their scales glinted in the light of the many fires burning in the village. Just the sight of their gold and black scales filled me with rage.

Dragons, monsters of both land, air, and water. The elementals should have wiped them off the face of Terrarth eons ago. But no, the elementals made peace with the dragons, and then allowed the Taints to form a bond with those worms that so far had lasted generations.

Once, the Taints had been the greatest dragon slayers ever to breath the air of Terrarth. But now they lowered themselves to lives of servitude to whoever they happened to dream about.

They were no better then the worms.

A soldier ran into the observation room where I watched the countless battles, his face red as he gasped for breath.

“Report.” I growled after he had bowed.

“The Falcon Unit have fallen to a black dragon.” He kept his eyes on the floor, unwilling to risk offending a commander such as I.

“They entire unit fell to a single dragon?” I asked, not willing to believe such a preposterous tale. The soldier gave a sharp nod. “Yes. This black dragon isn't like the rest of them, sire. He's much larger, and even the other dragons avoid him.” I tossed this information around for a moment, before voicing a question. “Where is this dragon headed, and do we know his name?” I watched the soldier fumble for a moment, before losing patience. “Spit it out, man!” I ordered, allowing a small bit of my temper to give my words an edge. Sure enough, the soldier flinched, then quickly spoke. “The... they call him Plague, and he's coming here.”

Plurals that are the same as their singular

1. Fish.
2. Money.
3. Deer.
4. Buffalo.
5. Sheep.
6. Moose.
7. Swine.
8. Pike.
9. Trout.
10. Bison.