Robin Burrows's Blog

This site might seem rather empty to my newer blog followers, so I thought I would explain.

I had a robust blog on a different site. Shortly after my first child was born, that site had some update issues and I moved over to this site. But all of the blogs didn’t transfer.

Since then, my children have engulfed my life and I haven’t had a chance for much else. We recently moved into what will hopefully be our “forever home.” It’s in the city, but has enough land so I can have the gardens and fruit trees I’ve always wanted.

Between caring for a preschooler and a baby, while trying to unpack a house and setup a lifetime’s worth of gardens, I have no idea when I’ll return to writing. But I will. Someday.

Maybe it’s the age of my kids, or reading thousands of picture books to my oldest child over the years, but children’s books are really calling to me, and ultimately they are the original reason I wanted to be a writer. So who knows what will come out when I finally have time to write again. I will be back. But it might not be for some time.

This website is currently undergoing a redesign. Please return later to see the new site. If you previously followed my site, you will need to follow it again because all of those connections were lost during the transfer.

Thanks!

Robin

It’s the second Tuesday of the month and you know what that means – the next segment of the Thief of the Eclipse short story!

Click here to start reading at the beginning. Below is a brief refresher on the story up to now (contains spoilers):

Zelena captured the memories, but now she’s trapped in the mind of the man she thought was her friend and must confront her greatest fear.

And now, part 9.

“You’re not real. Usha is dead,” Zelena stammered.

The adult version of Usha shrugged. “Who’s to say what is real and what is not?”

A twelve-year-old Zelena ran up, followed by a teenage Usha who carried a thick stick and cursed at the younger girl.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry! It was an accident!” the young Zelena cried. Teenage Usha grabbed for the younger girl’s arm and swung the stick with her other hand. Zelena, tripped, fell towards a pile of rusty metal, and shifted for the first time. Unbalanced by Zelena’s sudden movements, Usha fell into the rusty metal and collapsed onto the ground, a rod protruding from her skull.

Young Zelena screamed. She scrambled over to her sister and shook the limp body, but Usha was dead.

“This time you’ll be the one to die,” adult-Usha said. She pushed Zelena towards the corner the younger girls had occupied moments before. A hammer materialized in Usha’s hand.

Zelena tried to shift over and over again, but her power wasn’t working anymore. She was as helpless as the twelve-year-old girl. She was the girl. Zelena realized this time she really would die.

In the distance she heard a familiar voice, calling her name. It was out of place. It shouldn’t be here. This was wrong. Too dangerous. Something wasn’t right. She was just a stupid girl, what did she know.

Suddenly a piercing whistle filled her whole being. It was more painful that anything she’d ever felt. She frantically covered her ears, but that didn’t block out the sound. The image in front of her shattered, falling away like a broken looking glass. It hurt too much to wonder why. Then everything was gone; the sound the image, the pain, and she was surrounded by darkness.

— to be continued —

Come back the 2nd Tuesday of next month for the next part of this story. Subscribe to the blog via email in the box on the top right of this page and be one of the first to read new stories when they are posted!

It’s the second Tuesday of the month and you know what that means – the next segment of the Thief of the Eclipse short story!

Click here to start reading at the beginning. Below is a brief refresher on the story up to now (contains spoilers):

Zelena has been offered a mission by Lazaro, a mysterious diseased man.  He will tell her the truth about her father’s death if she steals memories from Father Remiel, her superior in the Eclipse Guard. Zelena stole the artifact from the caravan and must use it on Father Remiel.

And now, part 8.

A flood of memories hit Zelena. She flew from one to the next in the blink of an eye, swept up in the current, unable to control it.

She saw a younger Lazaro fall in love.The young woman nursed him when his illness flared up. She saw the tender moment, the love, the happiness. It was enough for her heart to fill almost to bursting. Lazaro would get better and worse in an endless cycle, but the woman loved him all the same. Then the woman caught one of the illnesses Lazaro carried. Now it was Lazaro who nursed her. He tried over and over to use his power to heal the woman, but it never worked. The memories ended with the one Zelena saw in Lazaro’s head, the one where he mourned his dying wife.

Zelena was thrown back from Remiel by the force and emotion of the memories. The amulet burned hot against her skin. She had what she needed. It was past time to leave. As she stood up, she realized what memory she’d been thrown into.

Zelena stood in the middle of the hovel where she and Usha had hidden after their father’s death, the place where she’d murdered her sister.

Zelena closed her eyes, focused on leaving the dreams, and shifted. When she opened her eyes, she still stood in the hovel. The memory hadn’t changed and now the Usha ghost stood in front of her. Panic seized her. She closed her eyes and tried again. Nothing. And again. She was trapped in this memory.

“I have you now,” Usha whispered.

— to be continued —

Come back the 2nd Tuesday of next month for the next part of this story. Subscribe to the blog via email in the box on the top right of this page and be one of the first to read new stories when they are posted!

It’s the second Tuesday of the month and you know what that means – the next segment of the Thief of the Eclipse short story!

Click here to start reading at the beginning. Below is a brief refresher on the story up to now (contains spoilers):

Zelena has been offered a mission by Lazaro, a mysterious diseased man.  He will tell her the truth about her father’s death if she steals memories from Father Remiel, her superior in the Eclipse Guard. Zelena stole the artifact from the caravan and must use it on Father Remiel.

And now, part 7.

Zelena didn’t know if it was Usha’s punch or if she was too far from Father Remiel’s memory, but she felt reality fading. Terror filled her stomach and told her to run. Reeling with pain, she closed her eyes and took a step.

When she opened her eyes, she was in an alley in Osage Grove. Her father strode down it, bright-eyed and whistling softly. Her heart surged. This was the father she knew and missed.

The Usha ghost began to materialize beside her. Zelena rushed up the back stairs to second-story room and lay flat on the landing. Peering between a potted plant and a ceramic cat she watched her father and Usha. The Usha ghost scanned the area, searching.

Father Remiel stepped out of the back door of a room halfway down the alley and grabbed her father by the arm.

“The girls,” Fathe Remiel said.

Her father scowled. “I already told you. You will not have my girls for your collection. They have no powers. They are just little girls.”

“You can’t hide them from me forever. This is your last chance!”

Zelena’s father snatched his arm from Father Remiel and walked on. Father Remiel howled in anger, and running to catch up, her wrapped his arm around the other man’s neck. Zelena’s father stopped short and prepared to fight, but Father Remiel placed his other hand on the side of her father’s face. His eyes rolled back in his head and his body convulsed as it collapsed to the ground.

He placed both hands on the sides of her father’s face. “If you won’t tell me, I’ll take it myself. I’ll take it all, bloodlines be damned!” Father Remiel shouted.

Zelena let out a cry. This couldn’t be the man who saved her from the streets. He couldn’t be the person who killed her father. A look of ecstasy filled Father Remiel’s face and he appeared to radiate a faint glow from his hands and arms.

Footsteps clanged up the stairs. Usha must have heard her cry. Zelena jumped to her feet and stepped through the wall of the nearby room. She had to get what she came for and get out. Fast.

She focused her mind on Lazaro and the bedroom she’d seen in his head. The wall shifted around her and resolved into a sitting room in a fancy house. Father Remiel stood over Lazaro, his glowing hands resting on either side of Lazaro’s face.

“It’s your fault I lost the girls. Your interference stole something very important from me, so I’ll take something equally valuable from you. You’ll regret the day you ever interfered with me.”

Zelena’s heart tightened. Lazaro was right. Remiel wasn’t who she’d thought he was. She’d been working for a monster. At that thought, the Usha ghost appeared beside her. She was materializing faster and faster with each shift. Zelena could see the murder in her sister’s eyes. She had to hurry.

Running across the room, Zelena shifted through Remiel as he stole Lazaro’s memories.

— to be continued —

Come back the 2nd Tuesday of next month for the next part of this story. Subscribe to the blog via email in the box on the top right of this page and be one of the first to read new stories when they are posted!

It’s the second Tuesday of the month and you know what that means – the next segment of the Thief of the Eclipse short story!

Click here to start reading at the beginning. Below is a brief refresher on the story up to now (contains spoilers):

Zelena has been offered a mission by Lazaro, a mysterious diseased man.  He will tell her the truth about her father’s death if she steals memories from Father Remiel, her superior in the Eclipse Guard. Zelena stole the artifact from the caravan and must use it on Father Remiel.

And now, part 6.

It took Zelena three days to plot the next part of her mission and another week to find the right opportunity. She hoped Lazaro was desperate enough to wait for her.

After she was sure Father Remiel was asleep, Zelena shifted through the walls of the nearby rooms until she reached his quarters. Father Remiel snored softly. Thankfully the sleeping draught RaDorian had slipped into the Father’s evening tea had worked. Zelena knelt beside the bed, placed a hand on Father Remiel’s forehead, and shifted. An aura glowed around him and she stepped through. He stood in a tall building overlooking the Travel Plaza in Junction City. Portals opened throughout the plaza, spitting out more and more people into the battle that raged through the plaza.

“This is not it,” she said to herself. She closed her eyes and took a step. Opening her eyes, she saw she was in the council chamber. “No,” she said and stepped again. This time when she opened her eyes, her sister stood beside her, all grown up. Unlike the people in the memories, her sister looked directly at her and smirked.

“This isn’t real,” Zelena told herself. “You aren’t real,” she told the Usha ghost.

Closing her eyes, she poured all of her thoughts into Lazaro and stepped. When she opened her eyes she was on the street. The Usha ghost had followed. Father Remiel was looking at wares from a cart vendor. Across the street, they saw Lazaro. He knelt with her father in his arms, chanting something she couldn’t understand. Her father’s eyes stared blankly though his chest still rose and fell. This was the last time she’d seen him alive, but she didn’t remember Lazaro being there. Then she noticed a teenaged Usha pulling a four-year-old Zelena down the street away from their father.

Father Remiel cursed and stalked down the street following the girls.

Zelena took a step toward where her father lay, and the adult-Usha punched her in the side. She crumpled to her knees and her vision wavered.

“You’re not real,” she mumbled.

“Denial will only make it worse. Stop running from me, Zeley,” Usha said. “You’ve been a bad little girl and it’s time to pay for what you’ve done.”

— to be continued —

Come back the 2nd Tuesday of next month for the next part of this story. Subscribe to the blog via email in the box on the top right of this page and be one of the first to read new stories when they are posted!

It’s the second Tuesday of the month and you know what that means – the next segment of the Thief of the Eclipse short story!

Click here to start reading at the beginning. Below is a brief refresher on the story up to now (contains spoilers):

Zelena has been offered a mission by Lazaro, a mysterious diseased man.  He will tell her the truth about her father’s death if she steals memories from Father Remiel, her superior in the Eclipse Guard. Zelena stole the artifact from the caravan and must return to Lazaro for details on how to use it.

And now, part 5.

The moons had barely changed position in the sky when Zelena barged into the ruined house where Lazaro hid. A woman dressed in pink silk slouched in the corridor outside Lazaro’s room sobbing, oblivious to the dirt sullying her garments. A small bag of gold coins lay at her feet, coins spilling out the top. Beside it was a leg brace.

Zelena opened the door and saw Lazaro’s small room was crowded. Several men lifted a limp body between them. Her stomach clenched as she stepped aside to let them pass in the small corridor. She’d lost her chance.

Then she saw the body. It wasn’t Lazaro! Poking her head into the room, she saw him huddled in his wheeled throne-chair. His skin looked pinker today, more vibrant. Perhaps she’s just imagined the depth of his illness on her last visit. “Or he eats people,” Usha whispered. Zelena couldn’t help but shudder. Even dead, Usha knew exactly how to rattle her.

When Lazaro didn’t notice her, Zelena cleared her throat.

“Did you succeed?” he asked softly.

Zelena held up the amulet that she now wore around her neck.

“Good.”

“Why was there a body here?”

“That’s of no concern to your mission.”

“What did you do to that poor woman?”

“Only what she asked. She knew the consequences. That bag of coins is the first part of your payment.”

“How do I use the amulet?”

“The hourglass flips within the chain. When the sand begins to fall, part of the artifact must be touching your flesh and you must touch Remiel. There are other, more difficult methods, but with your ability, you can simply walk into and through a person’s memories-”

Zelena grabbed Lazaro’s hand and shifted into her incorporeal form. The amulet suddenly felt warm against her skin. Instead of becoming incorporeal with her, she could see an aura of light glowing around Lazaro, dimming the closer it got to his feet. She reached out with her other hand and it went through where Lazaro’s body should have been. Light streamed forth from the spot. Zelena stepped through Lazaro and found herself in a room in a lavish house. A younger, healthier Lazaro knelt beside a bed where a young woman lay wasting away.

A strong wind swept through the room and Zelena was thrown back into reality. She landed on the floor below Lazaro’s wheeled-throne back in the dilapidated mansion.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded.

“Learning the truth.”

Lazaro smiled. “I know you don’t trust me. I wouldn’t trust me. But it might help if you waited until the instructions were complete, though the unexpectness was in your favor. Few best me. To enter a mind is a contest of wills. If someone’s guard is down it is easier. The best time is to wait until the person is asleep. You can guide the mind by walking through each room, like you walked through all the walls of Castle Starsol when you stole the Governor’s sword. Surprise may initially work with Remiel, but he’ll throw you out quicker than I could and then it’s all over. He’s stronger than anyone I’ve ever met. The hourglass records what you see, but it only copies the memories so if you do this right, he’ll never know anything happened. When all the sand reaches the bottom, it’s full. If you stay beyond the end of the sand, you could be trapped in the memories.”

“How do I get out?”

“Just close your eyes, focus, and shift out.”

“Why are you telling me all of this after what I did?”

“Because I believe in you. Now go and find the memories of my wife. I am weary. Do take care. Remiel is strong.”

— to be continued —

Come back the 2nd Tuesday of next month for the next part of this story. Subscribe to the blog via email in the box on the top right of this page and be one of the first to read new stories when they are posted!

This month you can read the next segment of my short story, but first I wanted to mention that I’ve added a new writing retreat & workshop to the conferences page. It’s in August in Camdenton, Missouri, and several interesting young adult authors will be in attendance. It will focus on story anatomy and marketing your book. You can find more details here.

Now the story continues with part 4. Click here to start reading at the beginning. Below is a brief refresher on the story up to now (contains spoilers):

Zelena has been offered a mission by Lazaro, a mysterious diseased man.  He will tell her the truth about her father’s death if she steals memories from Father Remiel, her superior in the Eclipse Guard. Zelena has decided to steal the memory-copying artifact before it leaves Osage Grove on a caravan.

And now, part 4.

Azinia’s two moons sat high above the horizon by the time Zelena ventured forth that night to acquire the artifact. They provided just enough light for her to find her way around the plaza where several caravans camped within the safety of the town walls in preparation for the morrow’s journey. She circled twice, watching from the shadows before approaching.

Each caravan’s wagons circled their own camp fire and posted their own guards, but the majority of the men slept in bedrolls around the dying embers. The University’s caravan stood on the edge of the plaza, closest to the East Gate. Their wagons were obvious by the banners strung from each one, announcing their presence. In the daylight the banners were a bright red with golden embroidery, but in the dark, the vibrant colors drained to shades of black and white.

A round-bellied old man slouched on the seat of the largest wagon, clinging to a spear, but snores filtered through his tangled beard mingling with those of his companions around the campfire. He was obviously the guard, but not concerned about his duties.

“They’re just asking for it,” Usha whispered.

Zelena shook her head to clear it. Not now. She needed to focus. Surely a university caravan full of magical artifacts would have more than one decrepit old guard. Maybe even magical safeguards. But she didn’t have Father Remiel’s charm with her tonight, so she had no way of knowing what or where they were. There was only one thing to do. Pick a wagon and hope for the best.

“Avoid the wagon where the guard sleeps,” her father whispered. “It’s the most dangerous.”

“And that’s exactly why I’m starting with it,” Zelena thought.

She walked over to the lead wagon, shifted, and stepped through its side. She stood inside boxes of artifacts. Lazaro’s scroll contained a sketch of an hourglass amulet with elephant endcaps. It was glass so it would be near the top. Enough moonlight filtered through the wagon cover that Zelena could make out the general shape of the items. The amulet was near the top like she’d expected. It was almost like someone wanted her to find it. A common street urchin could have acquired just as easily. Why had Lazaro insisted she handle both the acquisition and use of the artifact?

Materializing her hand, Zelena grabbed the artifact, and shifting with it, she stepped through the wagon to the far side. That’s when a loud screeching began. She should have known there would be a magical alarm! She slung the amulet around her neck and ran for the town wall. Behind her, she heard drowsy men orienting themselves in the dark. Shifting, she stepped into the thick wall surrounding the city, and ran incorporeal until she was far enough from the plaza to slip back into the city unnoticed. Then she stalked off to Lazaro’s lair. It was time to end his crazy scheme.

— to be continued —

Come back the 2nd Tuesday of next month for the next part of this story. Subscribe to the blog via email in the box on the top right of this page and be one of the first to read new stories when they are posted!

I’m taking a hiatus from posting a segment of my “Thief of the Eclipse” short story in order to congratulate all of the students graduating this month. (Don’t worry, the story will continue next month!) My first group of student workers are making their way into the world beyond academia and in honor of that momentous event, I would like to share a poem I wrote a few years ago. Life is full of highs and low, but when you take the time to make life memorable, the rollercoaster becomes a grand adventure.

The Road of Life

By Robin A. Burrows

on a three-seater bus

hand in hand in hand

faces interchange

left and right

all loved

deeds done

never forgotten

goodbye and hello

faces change

emotions preserved

the journey

the adventure

the road of life

The story continues with part 3. Click here to start reading at the beginning. And here is a brief refresher on the story up to now (contains spoilers):

Zelena has been offered a mission by Lazaro, a mysterious diseased man.  He will tell her the truth about her father’s death if she steals memories from Father Remiel, her superior in the Eclipse Guard. Zelena has a day to decide before the caravan with the memory-copying artifact leaves Osage Grove on a caravan.

And now, part 3.

Night had converged with the purple-orange brilliance of pre-dawn by the time Zelena climbed the tree outside her room, walked through the closed window, and collapsed into bed. Someone always stood guard in the first floor orphanage to protect the youngsters from bogles while they slept, and she didn’t feel like explaining her secret late-night excursion. Her ability had its blessings.

As soon as her head hit her pillow, she slept.

Zelena woke with a start when the breakfast gong rang a couple of hours later. Dressing in light robes, she hurried to the mess hall on the ground floor. RaDorian jumped up from the bench when he saw her, almost spilling his porridge. “Zelena!” he shouted and ran to her.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly. He was fierce, but small for a ten-year-old. She was almost afraid of breaking him with each hug.

“He will break you yet,” Usha whispered in her head. “They always do. It’s human nature to hurt others – especially those you love most.”

Zelena blocked out her sister’s voice. “You seem overly excited to see me considering we ate dinner together last night,” she said under her breath to RaDorian. He dropped his arms and his face grew red.

“I was worried. I didn’t feel your dreams while I slept,” he whispered.

“I’m fine, Ra.” She mushed his dark hair. He squirmed away, but smiled.

“Tell me about the mission. Pleeeease?”

“There is no mission.”

He placed his hands on his hips, raised his eyebrows, and looked at her like she were the child and he the adult.

“Stop it,” Zelena said. “You’re drawing attention.”

He raised his right eyebrow a bit higher.

“Fine,” she said, giggling at the absurdity. “Go wait for me.” She pointed to the table. A grin spread across his face and he ran back to his abandoned bowl of porridge. She joined him at the isolated table with her own bowl warm between her hands a few minutes later. Thankfully only young orphans ate in the mess hall this early. The Eclipse Guard typically slept later, especially after a night of missions.

“Why couldn’t I feel your dreams?” RaDorian asked, leaning toward her.

“I didn’t dream. I stayed out late…thinking.”

“What happened?”

Zelena explained her dilemma in a hushed voice. She didn’t want to involve him, but he was already involved and deserved to know the truth. And he would have pestered her until she told him.

“You have to do it,” he said when she finished. “I would do anything to learn why my family left me at the orphanage when I was a baby. Anything.”

“Not everything has a good explanation, and not everyone speaks the truth.”

“But what if he does know the truth? You could lose your only chance to learn about your father.” RaDorian had always been old for his age. Maybe it was because he spent most of his life following her around after she found him crying on the doorstep of the monastery all those years ago. He was the child and the brother she’d never have. But if Lazaro was telling the truth, her father’s memory was only a mission from her grasp.

“You’re right,” she said. “I have to know.” A feeling of dread settled in her gut as all of the possible complications of this mission suddenly weighed heavy upon her. But they didn’t matter. Nothing else mattered. She had to know the truth, even if it cost her position in the Eclipse Guard.

— to be continued —

Come back the 2nd Tuesday of next month for the next part of this story. Subscribe to the blog via email in the box on the top right of this page and be one of the first to read new stories when they are posted!