Message In A Bottle

One of my Christmas presents from Dragon was a writing prompt book called ‘642 Things To Write About’, and Dragon being Dragon she got me the ‘Young Writer’s Edition. Or, to put it much plainer, the kids version. *grins* Thanks Dragon.

Today seems like a good time to crack open the spine and take a look at my first writing prompt:
You’re enjoying making sandcastles at the beach, when the ocean waves wash up a message in a bottle. You pull out the message. What does it say?

Firstly, I’m going to assume I’m on a beach that is not in the UK in the middle of winter. Just for clarity’s sake, I’m going to go ahead and say that my beach is in the Caribbean. I mean… it’s 6C, raining and blowing a gale out there. This is not optimum sandcastle building weather!
Not that the prompt is asking this, or that it’s anything do to with the prompt at all. Just saying.

It’s probably testament to the kind of sci-fi and horror that I adore that in my mind, the message says something along the lines of opening this bottle has freed an evil spirit. You have 24hrs to capture him and cast the spell that returns him to this prison or he will take over your body.

Orrrr that opening the bottle has unleashed a plague upon the world that shall cause the population to be decimated. You are now Patient X. It would probably also say that even if you killed yourself you would still cause the virus to spread.
I’m quite fond of this second one actually because then you could have the CDC kicking into gear, quarantining the area, trying to use anything left in the bottle in conjunction with my blood/cells/what-have-you to find out what kind of virus/plague it is, to synthesise a cure or a vaccine…

Not that I’ve been wtching things like 12 Monkeys, Helix, The Strain etc recently… no, not at all. It also make me want to watch that early NCIS episode S.W.A.K – y’know, the one where Tony got pneumonic plague. That was fun.
Yes, I’m sure ‘fun’ isn’t necessarily the correct word.
What can I say – I’m bloody weird!

And, of course there’s always the good old “Good morning, Mr. Phelps…. Your mission… should you decide to accept it, is to [mission of the week described]. As always, should you or any member of your IM Force be caught or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This message will self-destruct in five seconds.”

Now how am I supposed to fit all of that in that little box the book gives me? Hah!

Stroke Of Midnight

And here we are. January the 1st. The 1st day of the New Year. A Fresh start.A blank slate. Start as you mean to go on. Blah blah blah. Etc etc etc. And so on. I think we all know the drill!

Midnight found me curled up on my couch, in my Hello Kitty onesie. I was watching Stargate SG1 on Netflix, I had an ice-cold glass of Pepsi in my hand and a bar of chocolate. I was chatting with my Natalie on gchat and to a young lady I know only as 'Aura' on OKCupid.
Yup, that was a pretty good place to be to start the New Year. I'm fairly certain the only way it could have been better would be to have someone curled up with me. OK so that would involve the couch being a wee bit bigger but it's the sentiment, really.

I'm not big on New Year's Resolutions. I have a few goals I'd like to achieve in 2016, I suppose some would say it's the same thing but heyho, each to their own.
Be healthier - Eat better. Stop going to the vending machine and eating chocolate. Stop ordering pizza. Cook.
Keep taking my meds - Every. Damn. Day.
Try and be more positive - Emphasis right now on try
Read 75 books. - I read 71 in 2015 so that shouldn't be too much of a stretch
Save all the money for Gatecon - Travel and hotels are already covered, just need to save the pennies for the fun side of things.

Today finds me starting a good clean up of my flat. My mental health - and therefore motivation levels - have been utterly shit and my flat is paying the price. I'm getting a little sick of the place being messy so I'm doing something about it. I've taken out the recycling, I've done a couple of loads of laundry. I've cleaned and tidied 1/3 of my living room - but we're talking moving furniture, wiping down skirting boards, as well as the vacuum and polish thing.
Let's hope it's a good sign of things to come this year!