Lydia Ondrusek's Blog

Ring

After the house is empty

curled on a too small bed,

heedless of discomfort

(it has become a world where nothing fits)

she clutches a patient stuffed animal

Ring

He closes the door of his office

leans his head against it, weary

out of new habit, removes his glasses

breathes deeply

wishes for control

Ring

A week, a month, a year

A hundred years

A thousand

Ring

Ring

I have a particular favorite book, PAY IT FORWARD. Maybe you know the story. A boy’s given an assignment to find a way to change the world. He begins a project to help three people , with the intent that they should each help three people, and so on. He executes on his part of the plan, and generates a response on a level he’d never imagined. Then, after receiving an award from the President, he is killed trying to protect a stranger.

His influence, and his project, explodes as people all over the world commit to pick up the torch – to carry his sacrifice forward. Fundamental change happens.

I wonder, looking at things like #26Acts, if perhaps we are coming, because of Newtown, to a change on that level.

Better to light a candle, they say,

and so we do.

Light them and send them out

into the world.

But not until we’ve checked their homework,

until they’ve brushed their teeth.

Until we’ve taught them how to cross the street,

or walked them, till they know.

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness, they say

But when your candle is put out

oh, the darkness.

We trip, we fall, the landscape that we knew

irretrievably altered and strange.

We curse with pain, and then we cry –

we reach for each other,

and in doing so,

light our candles again.

I see you pacing through the shabby rooms

your little world, its children flung

away to safety, seeds upon the wind,

and you alone, your face set for the fires.

They come, a miracle, or not

no saviors, reavers

without blood portfolio –

fight, still fight, alone against them

low down dirty deceivers.

Believe in all you’ve done and will.

Believe you’ll find

Serenity.

watching

feeling

falling

calling

fear, then the resolve

the steady tramp up stairs

standing

choosing

reaching

moving

forward, then the resolve

to bear witness

to bear history

to continue

up the stairs

There was a moment,

when the world was young,

when we would amble

on a country walk, with

time enough to whistle

and no need to fear –

remember?

And all that was important,

all we had to know

was where the fishing hole was –

oh, and how to whistle.

Lord, how we would laugh…

Remember?

–Lydia Ondrusek, 7/3/2012

Punch!

[OmniLit] [Kindle] [Kindle UK] [Kindle DE ][Nook] [Smashwords]

Ray’s parents are divorced and shuttling him back and forth. Nobody seems to realize how hard this has become for Ray. His only comforts are eating, and hiding out in video games. Now, gaming at school has gotten him suspended. Will taekwondo help him lose weight? Give him more discipline? His parents hope so. It’s the first thing they’ve agreed on in ages.

His gran doesn’t think Ray needs to worry about losing weight. She does agree he needs taekwondo, though. Taekwondo will mean somewhere to go, friends his age to spend time with outside of school, and something for Ray to feel good about besides his skill at video games.

Ray finds out that no matter how bad he thought things were, they can always get worse–and that when life punches you in the heart, it’s good to rely on friends who aren’t made out of sugar or pixels on a game screen.

Punch!

[OmniLit][Kindle][KindleUK][KindleGE][Nook][Smashwords]

Ray's parents are divorced and shuttling him back and forth. Nobody seems to realize how hard this has become for Ray. His only comforts are eating, and hiding out in video games. Now, gaming at school has gotten him suspended. Will taekwondo help him lose weight? Give him more discipline? His parents hope so. It's the first thing they've agreed on in ages.

His gran doesn't think Ray needs to worry about losing weight. She does agree he needs taekwondo, though. Taekwondo will mean somewhere to go, friends his age to spend time with outside of school, and something for Ray to feel good about besides his skill at video games.

Ray finds out that no matter how bad he thought things were, they can always get worse–and that when life punches you in the heart, it's good to rely on friends who aren't made out of sugar or pixels on a game screen.

Block!

[OmniLit] [Kindle] [Kindle UK] [Kindle DE] [Nook] [Smashwords]

Erin has never been secretive, but she’s starting to wonder; is it still keeping a secret if you just don’t tell anybody? What if nobody asks?

Could what Margret and her friends (or henchmen) are doing be Erin’s secret? Erin is being bullied at school. She hasn’t reported the abuse to anyone in charge, not her teachers, or her parents–she hasn’t even talked to her twin brother Tim about it. Erin believes her reasons for not discussing what’s going on are good. Or she did. She’s not so sure anymore.

The bullying has gone from insults to physical attacks that are getting dangerous. They’re bad enough that now Erin is scared to go to school. It’s stopped feeling like a safe place to be. Can what she’s learning in taekwondo help?

Block!

[OmniLit][Kindle][KindleUK][KindleGE][Nook][Smashwords]

Erin has never been secretive, but she's starting to wonder; is it still keeping a secret if you just don't tell anybody? What if nobody asks?

Could what Margret and her friends (or henchmen) are doing be Erin's secret? Erin is being bullied at school. She hasn't reported the abuse to anyone in charge, not her teachers, or her parents–she hasn't even talked to her twin brother Tim about it. Erin believes her reasons for not discussing what's going on are good. Or she did. She's not so sure anymore.

The bullying has gone from insults to physical attacks that are getting dangerous. They're bad enough that now Erin is scared to go to school. It's stopped feeling like a safe place to be. Can what she's learning in taekwondo help?