Treasure Chest of Thoughts

I signed up for another challenge.  Completed the RIP Challenge…so why not?

Okay, I just have to say this, I do not see any way that I can complete this one, but to just start this one is a success for me.

I had seen the word NaNo WriMo…(honestly, my initial thoughts were Mork and Mindy.  You remember, right?  NaNo, NaNo.)  Dana Huff, English teacher and author of A Question of Honor, blogged about this challenge and her plans to participate and I thought, “Why not?” 

I made this decision yesterday…with a blank slate.  Dana Huff encouraged me further when I read her comments on Twitter:  “I have a vague idea of the plot, but not sure. I do have the setting and a couple of characters.”

From that comment, I explored the NaNoWriMo site, hoping for an escape clause on the word novel…you know a work of fiction, for within me lies the story of the miracle of my daughter. I already know the title:  Spring Through a Window, a metaphor for the faith I always had for my daughter’s journey through three surgeries on her heart and the effects of this journey on so many people.

But no escape clause could be found, just the wording ”The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30,” so I waited until today to begin.  I have no title, no plot, no minor characters, but I do have a main character, and I like her.  She may be an extension of two characters I have created for my English classes, maybe a combo of Hollywood and my duck Olivia Noel.

Please meet Cybil…all 192 words of her…

Once upon a time…oh, to begin this tale in such a manner, but I cannot.  You see, this is the real-life story of Cybil.  I know, who names her child Cybil?  Well, obviously my mother did, for she was once a huge fan of Moonlighting.  See?  I said once.  Networks do not even re-run this weekly favorite of many, or, at least, a favorite of my mother’s.  I have seen this Cybil-lady, though, in some movies.  All-in-all, not too bad of a name.

Let’s see.  I digress.  Back to my tale.

Where does one begin to tell the journey that I began somewhere in elementary school, one where I went from a cute little red-headed baby to the Plain-Jane of Plain-Jane’s.  You know who I am talking about, that girl you look at and feel sorry for her because, even though she is “one of the nicest girls you will ever get to know,” she is just average.

This day-to-day journey continued throughout elementary and into junior high.  At this point, though,  I discovered the power of plainness.  Invisibility.  I could disappear and not be missed.  For I was just plain Cybil…who moonlighted.

Where does Cybil go from here?  Not sure…but maybe, just maybe there will be a Bruce Willis (of sorts) in her future?