Dear Me 2020

Dear Me,


Word Count: 960

Return to the Jungle

Well, the writing jungle got a little thorny last year. All good intentions - and my writing totems - ended up in a pit of boiling oil last February when I decided to take a short cut to get away from the dust bunnies and their annoying friends - the vultures. The dust bunnies chased me through the overgrown weeds, mega-prickly bushes, and past humongous palm trees, until I landed in a watering hole with a herd of Rhinos.

The Rhinos, who I named Bertha, Big Ben, Baby Fufu and her friends, Juju and Gus gave the dust bunnies stink eye and ran them off. Baby Fufu shared her water with me. Thankful, I ventured into the jungle with Big Ben by my side, and used my machete to chop up some of the huge palm leaves for them. They let me hang out in the watering hole for a while and I was eternally grateful.

Time to inventory my backpack. Water bottle and sunscreen? Check. Apple Laptop and Starbucks cup? Check. Writing totems – not coming back. According to my accountability notebook, I blogged a couple of times on Writing.com, I wrote the Romance/Love newsletter every month in 2019, and I added an “extra features” to my First Map of Maine story. I wrote

STATIC

The Moon  (ASR) Alina has to make a quick decision,but will it be the right one? #2198989 by StephBee

for a Writing.com contest. I read 16 books including “Inheritance” by Dani Shapiro, “Home” by Julie Andrews, and “Why Meadow Died” by Andrew Pollack. I even wrote the Burkhart 2019 Christmas letter I included with my Christmas cards this year.

I had this this feeling my inventory had nothing to do with my lost 2019 totems, so I chilled with the Rhinos a little bit longer trying to figure out what I should do next.

Juju and Gus brought me some balsa wood while I sat with my feet in the watering hole, so I just began to carve – mindlessly at first – but then I gained a sense a purpose and my 2020 totems started to shape up.

While I worked on my totems, I whistled a tune from the Jungle Book, “Bare Necessities.” That tune was Baby Fufu’s favorite. Her and Gus wiggled up a storm.

The dust bunnies hissed from the bushes, but Baby Fufu splashed water on them while she danced and they skulked off.

Time passed by.

Totem number one looked a little like my favorite football player, Tom Brady. Write for the sheer pleasure of writing. Whenever the inspiration or ideas strike, enjoy the moment, get lost in my passion. Expand my imagination. After all, Tom Brady plays for the sheer joy of the game. I need to find that joy again among the weed. I know it’s here. Just hiding. Bugger.

Totem number two looked a little like Baby Fufu holding a magazine. See, I have subscription to Writer’s Digest. The last couple of years, I’ve been rolling them up and using them to swat flies along with dust bunnies. Enough of that. I’m going to read every issue I get now. They must be read and put to good use, especially when I use my imagination.

Totem number three looked like Big Ben. I’ll let you decide if he looked more like the quarterback or the rhino. It’s time to expand my horizons. I’ve been writing romance for quite a while. I forgot I wrote a few mainstream literary pieces like

Spontaneous Decision  (13+) Awarded 8th Place (Mainstream Category) in the 77th Annual Writer's Digest Competition. #1484802 by StephBee

and Made in America which both came in number eight their perspective years when I entered them into the Writer’s Digest annual contest. Considering Writer’s Digest get thousands of entries, number eight is really good! I’d like to write more thriller/suspense, fantasy, and horror. I’d also like to write a story for the Writer’s Digest in the Mainstream area. I’ve already got some ideas:

Horror: everyday horror involving a video game or sunglasses.

Mainstream: DNA results from a well known company either go wrong or track down a killer.

Suspense/thriller: two modern day sleuths try to hunt down a painting that the Nazis hid. Or maybe something along the lines involving World War II. Maybe finding Hitler, or involving a submarine, a V2 rocket or even von Braun himself.

Time will see what shakes out. Ah, the totem already has idea…

A nasty old vulture dumped a dust bunny on my head. I flayed my arms, trying to get the stinky thing off of me.

Bertha came to the rescue. She poked that bunny with her horn and it went flying toward the bamboo trees.

I gave Bertha a big hug and began working on my last totem. Since I was whittling away in the moment, my last totem looked a little like Bertha – or Betty White. I’ll let you pick. Time to do some more work on my ghost story. I’m not going to commit to finishing it (hopefully, I do), but I’m definitely going to do more work on it.

After hanging with the Rhinos for a couple of weeks, (or was it months?) I decided to go forth to face the dust bunnies and vultures. Before I left, I chopped down a bamboo tree and palm leaves for the rhinos to show my appreciation.

The day I left, I packed up my bag, added my totems, and hugged all the rhinos. They sniffed and wagged their tiny tails. I promised to be back when I was done. I wrapped a wet bandana around my neck to keep cool, and flicked my jungle hat so it settled over my brow. My hand clutched my machete. Determination furrowed my brow.

“Okay, Bunnies, I’m coming for ya! Ya ain’t getting my totems this time!” And I raced back into the writing jungle for 2020. Wish me luck.