Micro Fiction Monday: Truth or Dare

“I’m not doing it.”

“You picked dare.”

“Yeah, because there are only so many things you can do in a car going a hundred miles an hour.”

“And this is one of them!”

“And it’s insane. I’m not doing it.”

“Come oooooooon!”

“No. You can’t make me.”

“I’ll pay for your share of gas money for the rest of the trip.”

“…….I hate you.”

“Is that a yes?”

I sighed and unbuckled my seatbelt. “Just realize that if I die, you’re the one who’s going to be cleaning my dead carcass off the interstate.”

He grinned. “Sounds like a yes to me.”

I rolled my eyes and swung my legs over the console. “I can’t believe you’re making me do this.”

“I’ll let you know if any cops come.”

“I’m more concerned about dying, but thanks, I guess.”

I positioned myself in the back of the car and made eye contact with him in the rearview mirror. He grinned again and reached up to hit a button on the dashboard, opening the sunroof above me.

“Good luck,” he yelled over the wind.

With a pounding heart and sweaty palms, I gripped the edges of the window and pulled myself through the gaping hole in the roof. The wind plugged my ears and dried out my eyes as I squinted into the sun in front of me. I stretched my legs slowly, rising above the car and the blurring landscape around me.

And suddenly, I was flying. The wind pushed my hair out of my face, and the sun shone on me like a spotlight as I flew down the highway. I stretched my arms to the sky and squealed, basking in the warmth of the setting sun, before the car horn sounded, and I dropped back down to safety.

Micro Fiction Monday: Freedom

I saw the movement before I felt it. I had already been staring out the window for a solid ten minutes, unblinking, as I willed the metal mechanisms to pull the train forward. Then, the flowers began to move outside the window—slowly, at first, then faster, as the car lurched forward. Gears moaned and clunked together,  and I heard the engine puff and wheeze with the effort. The whistle sounded.

We were moving.

The attendant had told me to sit still, especially if this was my first time, but the energy and excitement and anticipation had built too high. I was overflowing, and like the wooden cars surrounding me,, I needed to move.

I pushed myself out of my seat and started walking, then running, then flying down the aisle. I leaped over bags and dodged passengers, yelling their complaints to my vanishing figure. I jumped from one car to the next, running opposite from where the train was taking me, my feet no longer fast enough to keep up as the scenery began to whiz by the windows. 

I pushed open a final door and felt the rush of fresh air, the wind grabbing my silk hair and running wild with it. I caught myself on the railing of the caboose, watching as the city already started to disappear from view. So it wasn’t as big as everyone thought, after all.

The whistle blew again as the train reached full speed, pulling my away from the place I had hated for so long. I closed my eyes and breathed in the freedom, the relief, and the peace.

How to Amuse Yourself in an Airport

Hello, friends! As I write this, I'm in a Starbucks down the street from my job, getting in a quick blog post before clocking in. As you read this, though, I've made the long trek down to the United States to visit a dear friend / buttface of mine. (Who just so happens to have a blog of her own.)

So as of now, obviously, I don't know what to expect from my journey, as I haven't started it yet. But what I do know is this--I have five hour layover scheduled in Minneapolis, which is sure to be one hell of a good time. (The sarcasm dripping from my fingertips is sure to fry my keyboard.) 

It's not my first layover, though, and it sure won't be my last. So here's a quick, simple, 8-step plan on how to amuse yourself in an airport:

Step 1: Find yourself a highly caffenated beverage.

The exact definition of this is obviously based on personal preferance, but I myself go for a double shot on ice from Starbucks. Gotta get them espresso shots in my system, because by this point I've already been up for a solid five hours and it's still only 9 AM. The alternative is, of course, to nap in your terminal, but sleep is for the WEAK. (And I'm going to nap in the air, anyway, so might as well focus on some productivity now.)

Step 2: Find yourself some prime outlet location.

This can be hard to find at times, but damn it, you're here for more than half a work day, so you have time to do some searching. Venture bravely outside the limits of your gate, and leave a trail of breadcrumbs behind you so you don't get lost.

Step 3: Make a list of everything you want to do.

This includes:

- Three (3) blog posts

- Seven (7) illustrations

- One (1) entire novel draft

And, if you have time, get a start on next year's taxes. (Me, overly ambitious? Noooo!)

Step 4: Check Twitter before you start.

I mean, you gotta let your loyal followers know what's going on.

Step 4.5: Update your Snapchat story.

It'll only exist for 24 hours, so make sure you spend a solid five minutes on that.

Step 4.75: Realize that you just spent, like, half of your time scrolling through social media and not actually doing any work.

My, time flies when you're procrastinating.

Step 5: FOCUS.

Put them earbuds in and tune the irritated travellers out!

Step 5.5: Okay, right after this song.

How does a bastard, orphan, son of a....

Step 5.75: Okay, right after this song.

Pardon me, are you Aaron Burr, sir?

Step 5.8: Okay but actually let's pick a different album because CLEARLY this isn't working in your favour.

You really shouldn't have picked such a catchy soundtrack, anyway.

Step 5.9: Realize that you won't actually hear the announcement on the PA when your flight starts boarding if you keep your headphones in.

You can tune out the busy crowds on your own, right?

Step 6: ACTUALLY GET SOME WORK DONE WHAAAAAAAT

Look at you, being productive! Look at you, making good use of your time! Look at you--

Step 7: Wait, is that your flight being called?

Huh. That went by faster than expected.

Step 8: Board your flight, settle in, and NAP.

You clearly earned it!

How do you guys amuse yourself during long waits, in airports or otherwise? Lemme know in the comments!

Until later,

- Justyne

Review: Just One Day

I don't know who I am. Or maybe I do know who I am and I just don't want to be her anymore." - Gayle Forman, Just One Day

HELLO, FRIENDS! Guess what book I finally finished in time for a Wednesday review??

I enjoy how perfectly my new bookmark fits in with the book I just read.

A photo posted by Justyne (@shteen101) on Feb 22, 2016 at 10:49am PST

This was another reread for me--ever since reading An Age of License (which was...a really long time ago lol whoops), I've had this massive travel bug. Since there aren't any major trips on the horizon (yet..hint hint wink wink nudge wink), the only logical thing that could satisfy it was...another book about travel!

Except not really, because all it did was make me want to travel more. Oh, well.

I normally find that, by the time I get around to reading a book for a second time, I've forgotten how much I initially enjoyed it. This time, though, I think I actually enjoyed it...more? When I read it for the first time back in 2014 (coincidentally, also the last time I was in Disney World....I THINK THIS IS A SIGN), I gave it a four star rating on Goodreads. Once I finished it up on the bus the other day, I didn't hesitate before giving it a solid 5/5. So what changed?

My perception of the story, that's what.

Okay, so let's back up a bit. Just One Day is the first of three components to one larger overall story--the other two are Just One Year, a companion novel to Just One Day, and Just One Night, a novella that serves as the sequel and conclusion to both. When I first read Just One Day, I didn't own Just One Year, and I'm 95% sure that Just One Night hadn't even been ANNOUNCED yet.

Let me tell you, though--the book is so much better when you look at it as part of a larger story.

Just One Day follows Allyson Healey, a recent high school graduate on a Teen Tour! in Europe with her best friend, with plans to head to university and study pre-med in the fall. On her last day of the tour, she meets Willem, a Dutch boy who acts in an amateur, outdoor production of The Twelfth Night. He offers to take her to Paris for a day (get it? Just one...you get it), and she accepts. In that one day, Allyson learns more about herself, life, and love than she ever thought possible. The book continues after the conclusion of that day, as Allyson struggles to relate the person she became in Paris back to the person she's always been at home.

The timeline in the book spans for one year, and Just One Year follows a similar timeline, telling Willem's own sequence of events as he also comes to terms with the events of that day. It ends mere moments after its predecessor, leaving Just One Night to conclude their story once and for all. For the purposes of this review, though, I'm going to try and look exclusively at Just One Day.

The best thing that this book has going for it is Allyson's personal growth through it all. She meets so many new people and learns so much and it's just so damn relateable, both as a teenager and a 20-something. I appreciated the fact that her year-long search wasn't just for Willem, but for Lulu--for the girl she felt she became that day. Watching her shift as she tried new things and stepped out of her comfort zone was the most enjoyable part of the whole story.

Forman does a really good job crafting her characters, too. Not only Allyson and Willem, but Dee and Melanie and Wren were portrayed in very unique and realistic ways. Even though they weren't focused on too much, Forman did an excellent job of expressing them in such a way that you know that there's more to them than we're able to see in this story alone. I feel like all three of these characters could fill novels with stories of their own.

The only exception, I felt, were Allyson's roommates. Kali, Jenn, and Kendra felt more like filler characters than anything. Unlike the others, I didn't feel like I knew them at all--they just fell flat on the paper, which is especially disappointing considering the colourful personalities of some of the other side characters.

NOW. If you decide to read this book (or even if you already have), I must insist that you GO READ JUST ONE YEAR. While I thoroughly enjoyed this book and all it has to offer, it never fully answers the questions that Allyson and the reader poses after the day in Paris ends. Just One Year does--and the ending is SO MUCH MORE SATISFYING when you actually have these answers! Without them, this book just barely falls short, which is especially frustrating, considering how much extra story you still have to get through to finally figure out what happens oh my god.

I hope to do a review of Just One Year--and maybe even Just One Night--sometime in the future, so stay tuned for that!

Have you read this week's book? Let me know what you thought in the comments!

Until later,

- Justyne

Micro Fiction Monday: One Part

He fiddled with his neck pillow, fluffing it and adjusting it before settling back into his seat. He closed his eyes for a moment, if that, before fiddling with the pillow again. He reached for the packet of gum tucked into the seat pocket, purchased from a stand in the airport. He fumbled with the packaging, dropping the first piece onto the floor, before he popped one into his mouth. He chewed it quickly and aggressively, so much so that his jaw quickly grew sore.

He jerked back in his seat as the plane moved forwards, gaining speed quickly. He gripped the edges of his seat, so hard that his knuckles turned white and the tips of his fingers went numb. He kept his eyes focused on the TV screen in front of him, his destination outlined on the map.

His eyes darted to the side only once, and he took some comfort in the fact that the young woman beside him looked just as nervous as he felt. Perhaps, he mused, he was not the only one new to flying.

~~

This wasn’t her first time on an airplane. Her family travelled to Florida when she was seven, again when she was ten. She flew to Mexico at age fifteen, and back and forth from the West coast once she started college at eighteen.

Her nerves didn’t derive from the sudden jolts of movement, or the force of gravity as they lifted up into the air. She twisted her hands nervously in her lap, afraid that this plan was futile; that he would find her, no matter how far she went. She was scared that she had left behind some clue, or that he would notice her absence too quickly. He had held his grasp on her for so long...a part of her didn’t think she could get away.

Another part of her didn’t want to.

~~

Until later,

- Justyne