Twinepathy (Part 27): You Have No IDIA

Hullo, everyone! I hope you had a great weekend, and a wonderful Valentine’s day! I hope you’re enjoying all of the post-Valentine’s sales… Enjoy the part, and check out part one if you’re new.

The drive home is gloomy and quiet. Denver must be thinking about our failure, while I’m just trying to figure this puzzle out. I’m smart, you know. I might not be able to match up with Jen’s brains, but I’m not an idiot. Right now, though, I feel like one. Why can’t I figure this out?

Mom and Dad are up when we get home, and Maddie’s helping them make breakfast. Denver gives them our story: we wanted to go for an early morning hike, which we actually do sometimes. They accept it without questions. Brooklyn’s still asleep, and I don’t blame her. We’ve had a rough week, her most of all. She deserves the rest. But that also means that I can’t go on the computer and check out this Keller person. Everyone else is too touchy about their computers to let me use them, especially since that one time I accidentally deleted Dad’s important twenty-one page paper. And that was five years ago. Yeah, my family holds grudges.

I help my mom with a few little things around the house and then turn my attention to Maddie. I think it’s high time she learned how to play Monopoly. I mean, she’s been here for about a week already, and we haven’t played with her yet! It’s basically a family tradition. So I convince Denver and Dad to join us, and we sit down in the living room, ready to play.

We play for about an hour, with me helping Maddie. She’s far, far ahead of all of us when the doorbell rings. Denver shoots up and races to the door like he’s on fire. What is he…

Ohhh. When he opens the door, I hear Ezra’s familiar voice. No wonder he was so eager to get to the door. He didn’t mention that they had any plans today.

Denver brings Ezra into the living room. “Let me just go get my stuff,” he says, moving towards the stairs.

Ezra nods and sits down, giving us a shy smile. She doesn’t know Dad very well, I know that much, and she always seems to have a little trouble talking to adults. Dad says hello and chats politely with her before excusing himself and leaving. I lean forward, moving my game piece to Go. “Hi, Ezra. Had any good IDIAs lately?”

Ezra gives me a confused look, but then it dawns on her, and she gives me a nervous look. She looks around and then leans in. “Does… does your family know?”

I know what she wanted to ask. Does Denver know? I shake my head. “No.”

Denver walks back in. “Okay, I think I’m ready. Albany, I think I heard Brooklyn moving around. You can probably go check on her.”

Finally. It’s almost lunch time. I don’t think she’s ever slept in this late. I nod. “Okay, I will. Have fun, you two. Make sure your phone’s charged.” I wink at Ezra.

Ezra and Denver both give me odd looks, but Ezra’s has so much more meaning. The front door shuts behind them, and I burst out laughing. Maddie gives me that funny look little kids give grown-ups when they do something that makes absolutely no sense. “You’re weird.”

I laugh harder. “You have no IDIA.”

Avengers’ Isle: Trail Mix

Well, hello, everyone! If you’ve been keeping up with this series for a while, the title might have surprised you. If it didn’t, you’re either new or you might need a refresher. Either way, I suggest you check out some past episodes here. But Fury’s trail mix is all gone, right? Well…

Steve blinked groggily. He felt like he’d been asleep, like his brain was fuzzy. He was staring down at an almost burt-out fire ,the sun just coming over the horizon. How long have I been out of it?

Everything came flooding back. The memories from after Bucky knocked him out were mixed up and vague. He remembered Thor finding him and offering him food… Thor. He left.

Steve frowned up at the sky. That had been early in the day, the day before. Thor should’ve been back. His spine tingled. What had happened to him?

There was a pail of water sitting next to him, and he used cupped hands to drink some of it. He glanced around, looking for a sign that the Asgardian had come back. He spotted something shiny a few yards away.

Steve stood up and scanned the area carefully. He could only hope it wasn’t a trap. He crept toward it, listening, looking, searching. Finally, he reached it and knelt down.

A frown made its way across his face, and he picked up the object. It was a small package of trail mix.

Steve’s mind whirled. There was no way Thor could have gotten it. Could Bucky have put it there? But where would he have gotten it?

And should he eat it?

He studied the package. It clearly hadn’t been opened. His mind ran through possibilities. Repackaging, resealing, radiation… but none of those were practical. He carefully tore open the package and studied the trail mix. Nothing. He wished he had some of Stark’s fancy scanning equipment.

He took the trail mix back over to the dying fire and began to munch on it. It was overly salty, but it tasted absolutely delicious to him.

And as he munched, an idea began to grow in his mind.

Like to get (virtual) trail mix, comment to eat it with Steve.

 

Please Help Me Yet Again!

Hey, everyone! As you may or may not know, I am horrible at naming inventions. Horrible. Almost as bad as I am at coming up with them. But, nevertheless, I actually did come up with a couple of inventions, and I’m looking for some help naming them.

First off, there is the… weird saddle-shaped flying machine. I am currently calling it a “transporter”, but I’m looking for a catchier *cough*smarter-sounding*cough* name. Basically, it’s the first flying machine the fantasy world I’m writing in has ever seen. It’s shaped like an English saddle (more specifically, a dressage saddle… if anyone knows what dressage is…)…

…like so, except it’s solid metal, and it goes down farther (the size of a 5.563′ teen guys’ legs, basically), and it the sides go all the way back. And… um, it flies. Any name ideas would be greatly appreciated. 😀

Second, I have these cell-phone-like devices. Like miniature Skype devices. They’re used to communicate. And it’s pretty easy for me to explain what they look like, because they’re basically pocket watches that have been repurposed and refitted with a small circular screen and a little buttons. And… I already edited a picture of what the outside looks like.

Help! Any ideas? Share below! What do you think of the inventions (and my pocket watch Photoshop engraving skills)? Do you know what dressage is? Comment!

Friday Fiction Challenge: 7-11-14

A challenge to help you write, get you thinking, and spark some creativity! Add a link to your response in the comments below and link back to this post. If you just decide to answer the question, and it’s not a full length post, feel free to just comment with your answer. Be creative and have fun!

The Question

What do you see yourself doing in ten or twenty years? Are you famous? Or are you rich, retired, and living in the Bahamas? Or are you just pretty much the same?

The Challenge

Write a story of you meeting your future self. (Yes, you can meet them for coffee if you want. 😉 )