Thursday, April 8, 2010

Winter Man



Yes, you're in the right place.

Unless you were looking for someone else. If that's the case, browse a second and see if I float your boat or not.

For those of you looking for Christi on purpose, here I am! As many of you read yesterday at Elana's blog, black blogs are harder to read. I had no idea. I work eight hours a day with four DOS based windows open, so I look at white on black all the time and have no problem. But I'd hate to think I'm making anyone's day harder, so I changed it for easier reading.

This is a quick post afore a run off for work, but I'd like to take a moment and thank everyone for the wonderful comments about yesterday's post. You all rock. That's all I can say.

Without further ado, a shortie called Winter Man:


The eyes that he wears are so open. He is as all are, it seems, but pretty words elude him. I know better than to trust him too much. It isn’t that he is deceptive or given to falsehood, but others have come before him and taught me well that life itself is an exercise is trickery. A clever dance we do as we evade the truth, or act as sleuths to uncover it. Why must we pick on truth? What has it ever done to us?

Or for us, for that matter.

He is the sound I hear when winter comes. No, the seasons stay the same for everyone else, but a single syllable from his mouth sends a blizzard through my veins, chilling me so completely that I swear I can see my exhale as a white puff in front of my face, billowing up into the heavens, where he says he will send me someday if I don’t start minding my mouth better. Should this honesty make me trust him more? He could just smile sweetly and tell me he loves me, but then the hammer to my skull would be such a shock.

I don’t like surprises.

I had a cat once that slept on my feet. It did not do it to keep my feet warm, but to prove to me that it could lay wherever it wanted to. He is much the same. I pet him sometimes and call him by my cat’s name, but he does not know why. He bites harder, though, and doesn’t fit as well in the gunny sack.

I’ve measured him.

23 comments:

Anne Gallagher said...

LoL He doesn't fit that well in the gunny sack. I've measured him.

You are one scary dudette!

Great writing btw. I love his eyes.

sarahjayne smythe said...

Gorgeous picture and great snippet. I love them both. :)

Unknown said...

Christi, this short is wonderful. I think it's some of the best I've seen from you yet. The language, descriptions, metaphors... seriously well done. You illicit just the feelings you're going for.

JE said...

You know, I kind of liked the white on black. I didn't think it was hard to read.

Winter man is good, as always. You writing alway amazes me with each new short story.

And, you've said I was cute? Hm...I must have missed that ;-)

~JD

Elizabeth Poole said...

I liked how concise everything was. You really captured the feel of the piece without skimping on detail. Awesome job!

Sarah Ahiers said...

Awesome!
Loved that last line!

Aubrie said...

Lovely writing and I like the new look to your blog!

Jm Diaz said...

Great writing... very much enjoyed it.. and I was okay with black on white :)

Talli Roland said...

I love that bit about the cat doing it to prove he could. Brilliant!

(Like the new background, too.)

DL Hammons said...

Another wonderful piece. Loved it! I didn't mind the previous background either. *Shrug*

Shelley Sly said...

Beautiful imagery, and I like the humor sprinkled in, too. Nicely written!

Jemi Fraser said...

Like the writing! And I do find this so much easier to read. My eye sight kind of sucks, so I appreciate the change :)

Unknown said...

Well, I never would have thought you a conformist, Christi. However, the new look looks good. Much rather the black background though...but that's just me...dark.

And, as most people read blog posts through Google Reader, I wouldn't have thought the colour mattered?

Enough about that! Love your writing piece. As always :)

Mia Hayson said...

I had a cat once that slept on my feet. It did not do it to keep my feet warm, but to prove to me that it could lay wherever it wanted to. He is much the same. <---- favourite part!!:~D

I was ok with the black on white too ;) but this layout is cool too

Hannah said...

Love the piece.

I loaded this page and I was like, wait...something's different...

Anonymous said...

the cat part was my favorite too, and i love the new look. you know those little bubbles in your vision after someone takes your picture with a flash, well my eyes used to do that after reading the white on black, but your blog is very much worth it. i'm really glad it changed now... but you know you should always just be you. :)

Lola Sharp said...

Christi, I LOVED this short. That last paragraph with the cat, genius. The last sentence, perfect. The voice in this entire piece is sublime.

Christi Goddard said...

Everyone - Today was hectic and I just got caught up with everyone's lives, now I must sleep. I truly appreciate each and every one of you, and I'll come back and comment tomorrow morning, if anyone ever checks back on this sort of thing.

Roland D. Yeomans said...

I work the late shift at the blood center, Christi, I keep vampire hours. So I check back at night.

Sigh. So my black blog is harsh on visitors? I thought it looked elegant. Like my hero, Sam McCord, I follow my own path. Yeah, and look at all the trouble that comes his way. And mine, too, for that matter.

Guess it's no wonder I'm a lone wolf. Black my site will stay. Have a better day tomorrow, Roland

Christi Goddard said...

Anne - I'm not that scary. I can imagine things, but doesn’t mean I'd DO them. Often.

Sarahjayne - Thankya. I always love when someone likes my artsy stuffs.

Steph - I giggled at this. I'm the worst judge of my own stuff. Things I post that I'm proud of, hardly anyone comments. Things I post that I couldn't care less about, people really like.

Justine - I liked the white on black, too, but I don't want to make people's eyes hurt. Enough people have thanked me that I'm glad I changed it for them. I tried to make the rest of it as dark as possible, like me. :-)

Elizabeth - It felt totally ADD to me. Each paragraph has almost nothing to do with the others. But I'm glad you liked it.

Falen - Thankya. I picture her measuring him in his sleep and going, "Hm, damn." Then she realizes he'd fit if he were in pieces.

Aubrie - Thank you on both counts.

Jm - I was, too, but there's no reason to torture people with my layout.

Talli - This part is based on reality. My cat, Snape.

DL - I'm glad you liked it.

Shelley - Well, you know me: gotta have some humor.

Jemi - I'm glad I made your life a smidge easier.

Wendy - I'm not conforming to a societal regime. I'm… helping to make the world a brighter place? Being someone's hero? Okay, that's a stretch. And I've never used Google Reader.

Mia - Yeah, I like that part, too

Palindrome - I'm still adjusting, myself

Aspiring - I'm still me, but with easier reading :-)

Lola - sublime? Wow, I don't think anyone's ever used that word for my stuff before

Roland - I'm not saying others should do what I did. I just want reading my stuff to be as painless as possible.

Tana said...

LOL about the cat! I like how it has something to prove. Don't we all??

Unknown said...

This is great, and I LOVED the last line. Gave me shivers!

I liked your black blog, but I agree: white print on black is harder on the reading eyes. It looks great like this!

If you have a chance, stop at my blog. I left you a little something there today!

Have a great weekend!

Roland D. Yeomans said...

Christi, did you know that there is a murder scene blogfest going on right now?
http://annerileybooks.com/2010/03/its-gonna-be-a-bloody-one-folks-murder-scene-blogfest-is-here/.

Come check out my entry. It is from my historical fantasy, RITES OF PASSAGE, set in 1853 aboard a transatlantic steamer bound for Paris. Unfortunately, a third of the passengers are undead in one form or another. Unfortunately for them, Samuel McCord is a passanger as well. You get to see the love of his life, Meilori Shinseen {Chinese for the fae of Destiny and Fortune.}

http://rolandyeomans.blogspot.com/.

Have a great weekend. I'm working of course. Roland