This is my response to the Weekly Photo Challenge: Gathering.

A Gathering of Christmas Orbs
Today’s Daily Prompt-Good Tidings:
Present-day you meets 10-years-ago you for coffee. Share with your younger self the most challenging thing, the most rewarding thing, and the most fun thing they have to look forward to.
This is my contribution!
Positively Dickensian
Two women sit across from each other at a table in a coffee shop. They take their tea the same way: Earl Grey, strong, two sugars. Turbinado, please, stirred clock-wise.
Their conversation goes like this:
2004 Mae: Hey, why are we blonde? We haven’t been blonde since we were seven, and we both know that was way more than ten years ago–yours or mine.
2014 Mae: We’ve met before, right? We’ve been radically altering our hair every few months since we were twelve. Some things don’t change. Wait until you get to 2012. That was a great hair year for us, even if we got sick of the Miley comparisons.
2004: Who is Miley?
2014: Never mind. We’ll know soon enough, and we’ll wish we didn’t.
2004: Oh, okay. Anyhoo, this is kind of weird. Why are we here, again? Do you have big news for me? Because I’m not sure that I want to know. Even if it doesn’t suck.
2014: Good, because I didn’t plan on giving you specifics, anyway.
2004: Well, what if I changed my mind? What if I want to know now?
2014: Too fucking bad. It doesn’t work that way.
2004: Did you bend time and space just to have tea with me? Honestly, that is kind of creepy. Is this some next-level Miss Havisham shit? Future me is so bereft that she finds a way to come back to a point when life was better? Oh, my god. Do I really turn into Miss Havisham? Seriously, is my future that pitiful?
2014: I’m not wearing a tattered wedding dress, am I? So, no. I forgot how kooky we can be.
2004: Wait. Wait! Do I-do we-become…normal? I’d rather be Miss Havisham.
2014: Haha, no! We’re amusing, too!
2004: Hey, don’t take credit for that line! I said it, so I am the amusing one. Continue reading
Do I believe in the concept of best friends? Of course I do! See below:
Al and Nic: Goofing off.
We’re 98% the same person. She’s my best friend, my sister from another mother, my platonic other half. Nic is one of the handful of things that makes life precious, and worth living.
“Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”-A.A. Milne
The best way for a short girl to stand out in a crowd is by having a bright red mohawk. Trust me, it works like a charm. Just don’t try to talk to her; she might bite.*
This is brought to you by the Daily Prompt: Standout. When was the last time you really stood out in a crowd? Are you comfortable in that position, or do you wish you could fade into the woodwork?
**Okay, so I don’t really bite. I’m pretty sure this is true of most mohawk-sporting lasses. I am totally comfortable with you staring at me, but will become a googly-eyed mess if you engage me in small-talk. Unless the conversation is about books or dead writers, then I say, “Stranger, bring it on!”
Daily Prompt: Tell us about a thing you’ll never write about.
This one is easy.
A closed mind is the death of creativity. Never say never.*
*As soon as this phrase ran through my mind, I thought of this old Romeo Void song. It has nothing to do with this prompt or books or writing, but Debora Iyall is all kinds of awesome.