Rantings of an Arranged Mind

My sister Calla had lived with the death of our parents for more than a decade. She lost her adoptive parents, the Wileys, a year before meeting Diggory Franklin in 2008. I had been sent back in time by the Continuity Integrity Agency to make sure that Calla built a time machine that Diggory would use before his death in 2009.

The only problem was, the Wileys' death provided the funds that paid for Calla's doctoral studies. Those courses led to the time machine. So, to make sure the machine was built, I had to make sure the Wileys' died.

I had always loved stories and art and creativity. I ended up taking art through high school, and drama. I helped design and build sets and costumes. It was fun to help make little worlds, and to use imagination to fill in the gaps. When I started acting in shows Ethan was my number one fan, showing up to watch practices and give me flowers on opening night.

When I was a kid I would tell my friends I had a busy summer upon my return to school -- and a "busy summer" entailed farm chores, reading books, playing with my sister, shopping trips, swimming in the creek, and maybe, just maybe, travelling somewhere.

On my CIA final exam, I learned a whole new definition of busy.

Hey everyone. I have been tremendously busy this month because of (see my blog) and so I have been derelict in my duties as a writer.

I'm sure you're all tired of hearing that. I was getting better at keeping a once a week schedule until (see my blog) but now I'll have to try twice as hard to keep the story going, because I'm not giving up on the five years I've invested in Diggory Franklin's story.

I figure it's important for any of you still out there to hear that. There will be more story.

So this is what I posted on my Facebook at the start of March:

Twins' Birthdays March 1
Preaching March 3
Eldest son's birthday March 6
Conference interview Board March 9
Surviving March Break 11th to 15th
Preaching March 24
Preaching Good Friday March 29
Preaching Resurrection Sunday March 31

What got added to that was a Presbytery Education and Students' committee interview on March 21, and after that there was a snow squall that put my car in the ditch so I had to go with my mother-in-law to get it out with a tow truck on March 22.

So it's been busy.

My mother-in-law showed me up to the attic. If she was right and Ethan had been something of an artist and a story-teller, then my stubborn husband had indeed quit at something. I wanted to see this with my own eyes.

In one corner there were several boxes labelled “Ethan's room.” We got them out of their stack and put them out on the wooden floor. The first box was a collection of movies: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Mad Max, Excalibur, cartoons of the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The type of movie I had noticed that we didn't watch anymore.

So we're in the middle of March Break trying to keep 5 little kids busy -- and it's hectic. I have been trying to update with new writing every Wednesday, and I just don't think I'm going to have anything to put up today.

Ethan had a bit of a growth spurt that summer, ending up taller than me by the time he came to
high school. He had a lean, athletic look that autumn, having spent the summer helping his father with farm chores. I convinced him to come out on the cross country team, as I loved to run. I much preferred the loose, path-through-the-woods nature of cross country over the dizzy circles of track. It seemed more leisurely and fun.

Frank convinced me to go home for a break. I took a shower, grabbed some food and took a nap. Then I went back and watched him sleep until I passed out on the couch in his room. We chit-chatted the next day, and I did my best to keep a brave face through our banter. I think I covered my anxiety with humour, and he seemed to be in good spirits. I didn't want him to worry about me when he had so much to recover from.

Dempsey looked over at Andrew, sitting there on the couch smiling like a shark and offering threats in a friendly tone of voice. He smiled back.

"I'd like to see you try."

"What's that?" Andrew raised an eyebrow.

Dempsey slid out of his suit jacket and let it fall over the back of a chair. He then unbuttoned his cufflinks and started to roll up his sleeve.