Create Art Podcast

Welcome friend to Create Art Podcast where I help you tame your inner critic and create more than we consume. I am Timothy Kimo Brien your thankful head instigator with over 20 years in arts and education. How I accomplish this is by providing you with commentary, interviews, discussions, and projects that will inspire you to create art. This month I will be podcasting daily and writing a novel in 30 days. I am participating in NaPodPoMo and NaNoWriMo again this year as I did last year and you can hear those episodes here. You will be able to listen and read along to what I wrote for the day. I like to practice what I preach when it comes to art so I am challenging myself to write and having you come along for the ride. It is my hope this inspires you to accomplish your goals with your art and if you would like to share what you are doing email me at [email protected]

NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a brand new novel. They enter the month as elementary school teachers, mechanics, or stay-at-home parents. They leave novelists.

NaPodPoMo: NaPodPoMo* is a month-long event along the same vein as National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo. The difference? Well, instead of writing a 50,000-word novel, you podcast every day for 30 days from November 1st-30th. Use any platform you desire. From full production studio to iPhone app and just about anything in between. The goal is to use the challenge of podcasting daily as a form of podcasting boot camp.

24 Nov 2021    daily count 1702 cumulative count 35272 

“Papa didn’t tell us about that, no wonder she seems a bit weird. I can be her friend, I know what it’s like to be the weird one,” said Rachel.  

“Thank you sweat heart. I knew I could count on you; you have the heart of your mother for sure,” said Carl. He gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead as he left her room. Carl walked downstairs quietly and sat down at the kitchen island. He drank his coffee in silence remembering all the meals he had had at this house. It wasn’t his and he didn’t feel at home here, but he felt safe. He wanted the same feeling at his house, he wanted to be the father he always wanted to be but didn’t know that he wanted to be. Now was his chance, even if it would only be for a short time. Once he finished his coffee he set the alarm for the house with the code that Carmine had given him and locked the front door. He looked out at the field surrounding the house before he got into his car and just listened to nature. It would be another hour before he got home, and he thought about stopping at the gas station which would be open at this time. He wasn’t sure he wanted to have another conversation with the clerk on duty. He got into the driver's seat and turned on the car. The car felt good and strong, unlike him. He turned on the podcast that had been playing and this was the final episode of the season. The host was interviewing a garbage can and Carl rolled down the window hoping the fresh air and the podcast would keep him awake.  

As he was approaching the gas station, he knew he needed to grab another cup of coffee. Most people would have passed on having a coffee this early in the morning. It was about three, but he knew that the coffee would ensure he would be awake enough to make it home. There was still no one in the parking lot and the clerk was still behind the counter from what Carl could see, so he parked his car near the front door and turned off the motor. The lights inside were still blinding and he covered his tired eyes.  

“Back for more coffee huh,” asked the clerk? 

“The first cup was so good I needed to grab another one on my way home. Where’s the freshest pot,” Carl asked? 

“I just got done making one, it’s the first on the right. If you drink that coffee so early in the morning you’ll never go to sleep,” said the clerk.  

“Sleep is for the weak, plus I’ll get enough sleep when I am dead,” replied Carl.  

He grabbed another large cup, meat stick and candy bar and placed all the items on the counter to be ringed up. The clerk mechanically ringed up the items and bagged the meat stick and candy bar. “That will be four seventy-five, I comped the coffee for you,” said the clerk.  

“Much appreciated. When the guy they took away in an ambulance was here, do you remember anything else about him,” asked Carl? 

“Afraid not, we were doing a shift change and all I saw was the EMT’s take him away. I didn’t even see when he fell down but the guy that did is on the second shift, he should be in tomorrow, or later today. I guess It depends on how you look at it,” replied the clerk.  

“Yeah, I used to work third shift and time is weird when you are trying to tell someone about something happening. I’ll come by tomorrow and see him, what’s his name,” asked Carl? 

“Alan, I’ll let him know you will be coming by what’s your name,” asked the clerk? 

“Carl, I appreciate the info and let Alan know I am thankful for the help with my friend. He is more like a little brother than a friend. Take care,” said Carl as he headed out of the gas station and to his car. Carl got into his car and started it up one last time, hopefully, before heading home. He messaged Cheryl and let her know he was about thirty minutes away. He put on a different podcast. This one was about conspiracy theories and in the past Carl remembered that it was creepy. It was run by a guy calling himself Salis Dannit and the host claimed he was a vampire and an overnight talk show host. Carl doubted it was true, he thought it was all kitsch and an act. In the episode Carl turned on, the host was discussing stories about people who obtained eternal life and the cost to their souls. In this episode the guest was a self-proclaimed professional investigator of the occult. Both the host and guest were discussing individuals in the 1500’s that were famous occultists. A name popped up, John Dee. Carl stopped the car once he heard that name. He was in the outskirts of the town and about ten minutes away from home. Carl sat there mesmerized with the conversation. He stopped the podcast and attempted to download it. Because he was in the outskirts of the town his internet connection was slower than usual and he saw lights pull up behind him, so he stopped the podcast. Carl thought it must be a cop that pulled up behind him, so he grabbed his wallet and waited for the officer to approach him.  

Carl looked in his rear-view mirror and saw a person exit the car that had pulled up behind him. Like he assumed it was a police officer and as the officer approached, he touched the back of Carl’s car.  

“Having car trouble tonight,” asked the officer as he shined his flashlight in the car looking for contraband? 

“Nope, just having one of those NRP driveway moments,” joked Carl squinting due to the brightness of the flashlight.  

“NPR driveway moments, this isn’t a driveway, and I don’t care if you are a federal employee,” said the officer. 

“No, it’s a joke, an NPR driveway moment is when you stop your car while listening to something very thought provoking. I am on my way home. Here is my license, registration and insurance,” said Carl. He handed the officer his documents before he was asked. 

“So, what was so compelling that you had to stop on the side of the road at three thirty in the morning,” asked the officer? 

“It was just a story about someone I thought I knew, did I do anything wrong,” asked Carl? 

“Well, it's dark out and you didn’t have your flashers on. Someone who is speeding through here might have slammed into the back of your car and not even have known it until it was too late. Have your NPR driveway moment in your driveway and not here okay,” said the officer.  

“Thank you, officer, I’ll head straight home, I am just a few minutes away,” said Carl hoping there was nothing more.  

“I see you have a coffee from the gas station back a ways. How long ago did you leave there,” asked the officer? 

“Must have been about twenty minutes ago,” replied Carl.  

“Yeah, I was just there myself and the clerk said someone was asking about an incident that happened on second shift yesterday. Was that you,” asked the officer? 

Carl was getting nervous, and he felt immensely tired. It felt like an episode may hit him at any moment.  

“I had a friend I couldn’t get ahold of yesterday and the clerk said my friend had passed out while in the gas station and they took my friend away. I just came from the hospital where my brother is right now after he had a similar thing happen to him and the docs don’t know why it happened. I was checking in on his kids and then I came back this way to go home,” said Carl quickly.  

“That’s a lot of coincidence. It's too involved for you to be lying about it. Where is your friend at now,” asked the officer? 

“The clerk said they took him to the hospital, so I assume he is in the same hospital as my brother. I’m heading back to the hospital tomorrow, or rather, later today, and I’ll see if he is there and see how he is,” replied Carl.  

“I was in on that call, what’s your friends name,” asked the officer? 

“Vince,” replied Carl. 

“Yeah, that checks out. When he left the scene, he was stable. He couldn’t talk for some reason and looked like he was in pain. The EMT’s took good care of him and I’m no doc but I am sure he is going to be fine. Get home and get some rest. That coffee is going to keep you up. I’d recommend not drinking the rest of it so you can sleep,” said the officer.  

“Thanks for letting me know officer. Vince is a good friend and having this happen to both him and my brother is disturbing,” said Carl.  

“Probably not as disturbing as the NPR program you are listening to. Here is your paperwork. Get home safe,” replied the officer.  

The officer went back to his car and pulled around Carl and speed off in the same direction Carl was going. Carl took a deep breath and turned the podcast back on as he pulled into the road. When Carl had made it home it was near four o’clock in the morning. The night was fading as the sun started to come up slowly. He stayed in his car for a few minutes and then turned it off and headed up the stairs to his apartment. When he entered, he saw Cheryl sleeping on the couch and lightly touched her.  

“Let’s go to bed. I am taking the day off work,” he said to her softly. Cheryl stirred a little bit and groaned.  

“I’m glad you made it home safely. I tried to stay up, but I was too tired,” Cheryl said sleepily.  

To reach out to me, email [email protected] I would love to hear about your journey and what you are working on. If you would like to be on the show or have me discuss a topic that is giving you trouble write in and lets start that conversation.

• Email: [email protected]

Welcome friend to Create Art Podcast where I help you tame your inner critic and create more than we consume. I am Timothy Kimo Brien your thankful head instigator with over 20 years in arts and education. How I accomplish this is by providing you with commentary, interviews, discussions, and projects that will inspire you to create art. This month I will be podcasting daily and writing a novel in 30 days. I am participating in NaPodPoMo and NaNoWriMo again this year as I did last year and you can hear those episodes here. You will be able to listen and read along to what I wrote for the day. I like to practice what I preach when it comes to art so I am challenging myself to write and having you come along for the ride. It is my hope this inspires you to accomplish your goals with your art and if you would like to share what you are doing email me at [email protected]

NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a brand new novel. They enter the month as elementary school teachers, mechanics, or stay-at-home parents. They leave novelists.

NaPodPoMo: NaPodPoMo* is a month-long event along the same vein as National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo. The difference? Well, instead of writing a 50,000-word novel, you podcast every day for 30 days from November 1st-30th. Use any platform you desire. From full production studio to iPhone app and just about anything in between. The goal is to use the challenge of podcasting daily as a form of podcasting boot camp.

23 Nov 2021    daily count 1713 cumulative count 33570 

Carl gave Carmine a hug, “I will, and I am sorry. I’m going right now to check on the kids okay, do you want me to come back here?” 

“No because you need to check in with Cheryl. Just check on the kids and then get yourself home. I’ll message you in case we need anything here and if we find anything out,” said Carmine.  

Carl headed to his car. He was thankful that Carmine had led him out to the entrance as he would have never found his way out of that maze. Before he left the parking lot, he messaged Cheryl. He wrote to her that he was going to check on Nate’s kids and if she was up, he would let her know what was going on with Nate. He looked okay and they are keeping him for observation. It felt weird checking in with someone, but not in a bad way. He hadn’t checked in with anyone since his divorce, so this was not a new feeling, just one that had been forgotten. Starting the car, he turned on one of his favorite podcasts that usually got his spirits up. It was a podcast that interviewed inanimate objects and usually was hilarious. He needed to laugh badly after seeing his older brother in the hospital. It reminded him of when he last saw his mother in the hospital and how helpless she was. After he left the hospital, his mother passed away a few days later, and subconsciously that fear hit him that the same fate would happen to his brother. He also remembered the fallout from his mother's death which was his father remarried only eight months after to a woman who was a widow and had a great deal of money since Carl’s father had lost a lot of his savings due to the medical bills and the funeral costs. When his father died, Carl and Nate only found out after they read about it in the obituary in which they were not named as surviving family.  

Carl was in auto drive mode in his head as he thought about all of this and drove to Nate’s house. The traffic was almost nonexistent and luckily the gas station near the house was open. He pulled into the parking lot and parked the car but left it running. He needed a moment to clear his head as the podcast played. He noticed only the overnight clerk in the brightly lit store. He knew that it would be about two hours before he got home, and he had to work in the morning, so he turned off his car and headed inside.  

There was a door chime that welcomed Carl and the clerk from behind the counter raised his eyes from his phone. “How’s it going friend,” asked the clerk? 

“Another day another dollar. Is the coffee fresh,” asked Carl? 

“The pots on the left are the freshest, do you need any sandwiches,” asked the clerk? 

“Nope, just need coffee, how about the donuts,” asked Carl? 

“They just came in about an hour ago, we have a bunch of day-old donuts that I can sell you for half off if you don’t mind day old donuts,” replied the clerk. Carl went over to the coffee pots and grabbed the largest cup and poured the coffee. He then looked over the day-old donuts and picked out two day-old donuts and four fresh donuts. He took the bag of donuts and the coffee to the counter and the clerk started to ring him up. “You live around here?” 

“Nope, just getting back from the hospital. Had to take care of a family member and the coffee at the hospital was horrible,” said Carl. When he said that he instantly regretted it. He was tired and when he got tired, he talked too much.  

“Yeah, that hospital coffee will probably put you in the hospital. I guess it’s the way they keep on getting patients. We had a guy come in here earlier today that passed out and had to call an ambulance to take him to the hospital,” replied the clerk. 

“What did the guy look like,” asked Carl? 

“He was short, bald and had an eye patch, I’ve seen him a few times. He came in during the shift change and just fell to the floor. He couldn’t talk and looked like he was in a lot of pain. My boss thought it was due to a slippery floor, but we don’t do the floors until third shift or unless there is a spill and there was no spill where he fell that we could see,” replied the clerk.  

“Was he driving a big truck,” asked Carl afraid of the answer but somehow knowing? 

“Yeah, he had one of those big ones. It was almost funny because of how short he was. I hate to say it, but it reminded me of a clown car thing that you see at the circus. Do you know him,” asked the clerk? 

“Do you know which hospital they took him too,” asked Carl? 

“Probably the one you just came from as that is the only hospital in the next twenty miles. Is he a friend of yours,” asked the clerk? 

“Could be, I have been trying to get in contact with my friend and that would explain why I couldn’t get ahold of him. How long ago was it that this happened,” asked Carl? 

“Oh, probably three hours ago, maybe four. I came in early to help get everything stocked for third shift and we had a truck that we needed to offload,” replied the clerk. 

“Shit, okay how much do I owe you,” asked Carl? 

“Hey, don’t worry about it, you look like you already had a rough night. I hope your friend is okay and your family member,” replied the clerk.  

“I appreciate it, by the way where did my friend’s truck go,” asked Carl? 

“Somebody came by about forty-five minutes ago and took it. We wouldn’t have towed it because your friend got taken away in an ambulance. We would have had the cops find out who owns It and give them a call to get it off the lot when they could,” replied the clerk.  

“Okay, that is one less thing to be worried about. I owe you,” said Carl.  

“Just be careful out there, get home and get some sleep,” replied the clerk.  

“I may be back for more coffee,” said Carl. 

“We’ll be open, I am here until eight-thirty,” replied the clerk.  

Carl left the store and entered his car. He turned on the podcast again and texted Carmine about what happened with Vince. He knew Nate would want to know immediately. Carl pulled out of the lot and headed over to Nate’s house at about one thirty in the morning. When he got there, he entered the code that Carmine had given him, and the gates opened to the long driveway. Lights popped up to help guide him to the house as it was pitch black. He pulled up to the front of the house and turned off the car and headed towards the front door. Seth and Rachel opened the front door before he could reach it.  

“How is Papa doing, “asked Rachel? The kids were in long pajamas and looked nervous and tired.  

“He is resting. They are going to keep him overnight and I think he will be fine. He is getting an MRI so they can look inside and see what is going on. I am here to make sure you two are okay and put you both to bed,” replied Carl. He loved his nephews, but he had never been able to be fatherly to them. They all walked into the house and Carl brought in the donuts and his coffee. They all took a seat in the kitchen at the island and the kids grabbed plates and glasses of milk for themselves.  

“Now I know you two aren’t supposed to have treats or sugar, but I got some donuts for you as a midnight snack from your favorite uncle. We will keep this between us right,” asked Carl? 

“We won’t tell mom or dad,” replied Seth.  

“I know this is kinda scary for you two, but your dad is okay. I talked to him at the hospital and your mom will be staying with him until the hospital releases him tomorrow. I need you two to help out when he gets home,” said Carl.  

“We will, do you know what happened,” asked Rachel? 

“The doctor thinks it’s just exhaustion. I know your dad works very hard so you all can have this wonderful house and so he can take care of all your needs. Sometimes us adults don’t know our limits, or we ignore them, and this stuff happens. Our bodies wear out and turn off to remind us to relax and take it easy,” said Carl.  

They all ate their donuts silently as the sipped their drinks. When they finished the kids took the plates and the glasses to the sink. They headed to their bedrooms and Carl followed them up the stairs. Seth’s bedroom was the first and Carl made sure Seth was in his bed and kissed his forehead. He then walked over to Rachel’s bedroom where she was sitting at the desk near her bed.  

“Hey sweetheart, you need to get to bed. Your dad is going to be fine,” said Carl softly.  

“Should we get ready for school in the morning,” asked Rachel? 

“I wouldn’t plan on it. You have my number in case anything happens. I am supposed to go to work but I am going to call off until I know what’s going on with your dad,” said Carl.  

“This has something to do with Myra doesn’t it,” asked Rachel? 

“Why do you say that” asked Carl? 

“There is just something not right about her. She isn’t like other girls her age or like me when I was her age,” replied Rachel. 

“She has had a rough time in the past few days. Her father abandoned her, and she could use a good friend. Can you be that friend for her,” asked Carl? 

To reach out to me, email [email protected] I would love to hear about your journey and what you are working on. If you would like to be on the show or have me discuss a topic that is giving you trouble write in and lets start that conversation.

• Email: [email protected]

Welcome friend to Create Art Podcast where I help you tame your inner critic and create more than we consume. I am Timothy Kimo Brien your thankful head instigator with over 20 years in arts and education. How I accomplish this is by providing you with commentary, interviews, discussions, and projects that will inspire you to create art. This month I will be podcasting daily and writing a novel in 30 days. I am participating in NaPodPoMo and NaNoWriMo again this year as I did last year and you can hear those episodes here. You will be able to listen and read along to what I wrote for the day. I like to practice what I preach when it comes to art so I am challenging myself to write and having you come along for the ride. It is my hope this inspires you to accomplish your goals with your art and if you would like to share what you are doing email me at [email protected]

NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a brand new novel. They enter the month as elementary school teachers, mechanics, or stay-at-home parents. They leave novelists.

NaPodPoMo: NaPodPoMo* is a month-long event along the same vein as National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo. The difference? Well, instead of writing a 50,000-word novel, you podcast every day for 30 days from November 1st-30th. Use any platform you desire. From full production studio to iPhone app and just about anything in between. The goal is to use the challenge of podcasting daily as a form of podcasting boot camp.

22 Nov 2021    daily count 1706 cumulative count 31857 

Carl sat down in the chair next to his brother's hospital bed. His silent tears were showing, and he was sobbing gently. Nate reached out a hand slowly from underneath the blanket over him and tried to reach out to Carl. He grunted a bit to get Carl’s attention. Once Carl heard the noise coming from his brother he immediately stood up and grabbed Nate’s hand. Nate squeezed Carl’s hand tightly and he smiled broadly.  

“Are you in pain, I can call for a nurse,” asked Carl? 

Nate just shook his head no and squeezed harder on Carl’s hand.  

“Carmine went to go grab us some coffee, she should be back, and the doctor should be coming by soon to talk with us and let us know what’s going on. You know you are in a hospital right,” asked Carl? 

Nate nodded yes and released Carl’s hand.  

“Can you speak yet,” asked Carl? 

“Yes, but not a whole lot right now, I am exhausted, feel like I just ran a marathon or three. How long have I been here,” asked Nate? 

“I got a text from Carmine that she was taking you to the hospital and that was maybe an hour and a half ago, so I don’t think you have been here for more than an hour,” replied Carl.  

“Any word from Angela or Vince,” asked Nate? 

“Nothing yet, there was no message from Angela to me or to Cheryl. Do you think what happened to you happened to them,” asked Carl? 

“They have ways to get ahold of me, they know what to do in a situation like this,” replied Nate. 

“Myra had a nightmare about the three of you and she was telling us about it. She saw herself in your office with Vince and Angela and an old man walked in and took you three into the office, there was yelling and then the old man walked out, and she found you three on the floor unable to talk and in pain,” said Carl.  

“Well, if what happened to me happened to Angela and Vince then I need to alert my B team to check in on them. Can you grab my phone so I can message them,” asked Nate? 

Carl went through Nate's personal belongings and handed Nate his phone. Just then the doctor came into the room.  

“Good evening, Nate, I am Dr Ferris, how are you feeling,” asked Dr Ferris? 

“I am doing better than when I got in here, this is my little brother Carl, my wife went out to grab some coffee for them. Do we know what happened,” replied Nate? 

“Well not really, your vitals all check out fine, but I want you to stay here for observation and I am ordering an MRI for you so we can see if there was any internal damage to your brain or heart. Has this happened in the past,” asked Dr Ferris? 

“No, I do work long hours and my wife would say that something like this was bound to happen sooner rather than later,” replied Nate. 

“It could be exhaustion, but I’d still like to take a peek inside and see if there was any damage done and what caused this episode. How about family history of something like this,” asked Dr. Ferris? 

“I have a brain tumor that causes episodes similar to this. I am considered terminal but everything my docs have told me it is not hereditary,” replied Carl. 

“Depending on the type of tumor you have, it may be hereditary, we will take a look and see if there is anything like that going on,” replied Dr Ferris. Carmine came into the room with two coffees and handed one to Carl.  

“Hello Dr, I am Carmine, Nate’s wife, how is he,” asked Carmine? 

“Yes ma’am, well we aren’t sure what caused this yet. I understand you found him on the floor, and he was unable to talk. How long was he unable to talk,” asked Dr Ferris? 

“Well, when I found him until about twenty minutes ago, he wasn’t able to talk. He looked like he was in pain, and we got him over here as quickly as possible,” replied Carmine.  

“Did he lose consciousness at all,” asked Dr Ferris? 

“Not that I could tell, he just couldn’t talk and looked like he was in pain,” replied Carmine.  

“Well, that is actually a good sign. Has he been under a lot of stress lately,” asked Dr Ferris? 

“He has been under some stress with a new case he has taken up. I can’t talk about it since it is a private matter, but yes he has been stressed out about this new case,” replied Carmine.  

“It could be from the new case then. I am going to keep him overnight and we will do an MRI to see what is going on inside him. Is he claustrophobic and does he have any implants,” asked Dr. Ferris? 

“No, he should be fine and no implants,” replied Carmine.  

“I’ve never had an MRI before, Carl is the expert on MRI’s he gets them every other week it seems,” said Nate. 

“They put you in a tube, I’d recommend asking for headphones because it gets loud in there and it is a tight fit. Make sure they play some relaxing music. It’s like those old snow forts we used to build when we were kids,” replied Carl.  

“I should be fine Dr Ferris, I’ve never had claustrophobia before,” replied Nate.  

“Okay good, the nurses will be back here in a few minutes, and they will take you back to radiology. MRI’s usually take about an hour to an hour and a half. Sinc this is your first time I am going to recommend a sedative to help you out. Any allergies to medicine,” asked Dr Ferris? 

“No allergies, I guess I just need to sit back and relax like my wife always says,” said Nate. 

“I always recommend husbands listen to their wives and take their advice, I am sure you will be fine, and this is probably due to exhaustion, but we just want to be sure that this is a one-time event, do you have any questions for me,” asked Dr Ferris? 

“Nope I think I’ll just enjoy a nice quiet night here at the hospital,” said Nate. Dr Ferris left the room and Carmine and Carl drank their coffees. 

“This stuff is terrible,” said carmine almost spitting out her coffee.  

“Hence why I hate hospitals. They may know the inner workings of the human body but they have no idea on how to make a decent cup of joe,” replied Carl.   

Nate messaged his B team to check in on Angela and Vince and handed his phone back to Carl. “I let me team know where I am at and to get ahold of you when they find out what happened with Angela and Vince,” said Nate. 

“Wait, why are we talking about Angela and Vince,” asked Carmine? 

“They haven’t checked in and we suspect the same thing that happened to me happened to them,” replied Nate? 

“So, is this a food allergy or poisoning or something like that,” asked Carmine? 

“Something like that. We don’t know and I just activated my B team to find out their condition and why they haven’t checked in,” said Nate. 

“Did you listen to the doctor; this is probably from exhaustion and if you keep going this speed it might happen again. I've told you a million times to slow down. No one has the energy for your eighty-hour weeks,” said Carmine.  

“Once this case is at a good place I can slow down, but until then I am still on the clock. How are the kids doing,” asked Nate? 

“I am going to head back to your house and check on them but knowing how you raised them they should be fine,” said Carl.  

“Dear make sure he has the code to get into the house, I changed it from the last time he had the code. Okay tonight I will rest after the MRI but tomorrow we are back on this case. Does that get me out of the doghouse for at least a day,” asked Nate? 

“We will talk about that later,” said Carmine in a perturbed tone. “Carl let me walk you to the entrance and I can give you the code on the way to the front.” 

“Take care old man and get some rest tonight, we will get this all figured out. I am glad you are feeling better, and I’ll leave right now to check on the kids,” said Carl as Carmine pulled him out the door.  

As Carl followed Carmine, she stopped at the nurse's desk, “I am taking my little brother to the front and then I will be back for my husband in room seventy-two. I know he is about to go into an MRI, and I want to be there before you all take him.”  

“We were just about to take him in a few minutes, but we will wait until you get back, no worries,” said the nurse at the desk.  

Carmine dragged Carl to the front entrance after that exchange. “Here is the code, I need you to talk some sense into Nate, he is working way to hard, and we need him to be around for a long time. I love that man with all my heart, and this really shook me, I have never seen him so weak and helpless and neither have the kids, help us out and get this case done quickly okay. I know it’s important to him because you are involved.” 

“I will do what I can. I am sorry for bringing him into this, has he told you what is going on,” asked Carl? 

“Bits and pieces like he usually does, all I know is that you and Cheryl are going to get together and take care of this little girl. In order for us to help you, Nate has to be in top form and as you can see, he is not his usual self right now. Just get this thing done quickly okay,” asked Carmine? 

To reach out to me, email [email protected] I would love to hear about your journey and what you are working on. If you would like to be on the show or have me discuss a topic that is giving you trouble write in and lets start that conversation.

• Email: [email protected]

Welcome friend to Create Art Podcast where I help you tame your inner critic and create more than we consume. I am Timothy Kimo Brien your thankful head instigator with over 20 years in arts and education. How I accomplish this is by providing you with commentary, interviews, discussions, and projects that will inspire you to create art. This month I will be podcasting daily and writing a novel in 30 days. I am participating in NaPodPoMo and NaNoWriMo again this year as I did last year and you can hear those episodes here. You will be able to listen and read along to what I wrote for the day. I like to practice what I preach when it comes to art so I am challenging myself to write and having you come along for the ride. It is my hope this inspires you to accomplish your goals with your art and if you would like to share what you are doing email me at [email protected]

NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a brand new novel. They enter the month as elementary school teachers, mechanics, or stay-at-home parents. They leave novelists.

NaPodPoMo: NaPodPoMo* is a month-long event along the same vein as National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo. The difference? Well, instead of writing a 50,000-word novel, you podcast every day for 30 days from November 1st-30th. Use any platform you desire. From full production studio to iPhone app and just about anything in between. The goal is to use the challenge of podcasting daily as a form of podcasting boot camp.

21 Nov 2021    daily count 831 cumulative count 30151 

Carl kissed Cheryl deeply this time. He had never kissed anyone this deeply and did not want it to stop. He knew he had to go so he broke off the kiss and headed for the door. Looked back at Cheryl as he opened the front door and said, “I love you; I’ll be careful I promise.” He made it down the stair and got into his car as quickly as he could move. That is when the tears started forming in his eyes. He was afraid he was about to lose everything he had worked his life for. He knew intellectually that at some point everything would end for him. In the past he tried to mentally prepare himself for that day and had pushed enough people aside and out of his life that he felt that his demise would affect few people. But now the feeling of dread at losing what he had accidentally made in the past few days was about to disappear. A determination that he had not felt since before the diagnosis returned, and now he felt he was fighting for his life.  

The traffic was noticeably light as it was almost midnight. Carl was able to make it to the hospital quicker than any other time he had gone there. He drove his car into the emergency room parking lot and tried to find Carmine or Nate’s vehicle. When he saw Carmine’s car he parked as close as he could to it. Shutting off his car he ran to the blindingly lit entrance and saw a few people mulling around the waiting room. No one was in line to see the nurse at the check in desk, so he went straight to her.  

“My brother Nate was brought in here a little while ago by his wife Carmine. Can I see them,” asked Carl in a very hurried tone? 

“Yes, Carmine is waiting for you in the back. I’ll meet you over by the door I need to buzz you in,” said the nurse. She got up from her chair and went over to the door where Carl heard a buzz, and he grabbed the door to open it. “Just follow me, he got in here not too long ago and the doctor is going to be seeing him shortly if he hasn’t already.” 

Carl hated hospitals, they had a certain smell he could not quite articulate, but always made him feel ill. This hospital was the same as the others he had been in. He tried to calm himself by trying to memorize the path they were taking to see Nate. By the time they had turned for a fifth time, he knew this was a lost cause, he would never remember how to get back to the front and to his car.  

When they got to the room the nurse went in first,” Your brother is here to see you, is Nate decent,” asked the nurse to both Nate and Carmine? 

“Thank you for getting here so quickly,” said Carmine. “Here have a seat, I need to grab some coffee for both of us.” 

“What happened, has he seen a doctor yet, what’s going on,” asked Carl worriedly? 

Nate was in the bed propped up and attached to wires monitoring his vitals and a mask giving him oxygen. There were beeps every few seconds and Nate looked like he was asleep. Carmine embraced Carl and said, “I am not sure what happened. I heard a thump like a body hitting the floor from Nate’s main floor office and I found him on the floor. He could not talk, and it looked like he was in pain. I got him up and the kids helped me get him into the car. I messaged you, raced to the emergency room, and got him checked in. They brought him back right away thinking it might have been a heart attack or stroke and they checked his vitals and it all checked out that he was fine. I am just waiting on the doctor, and they say they will keep him overnight for observation. I know it’s going to be a late night; can you check in on the kids for me tonight, I am just a wreak,” said Carmine? 

“Okay I am sorry for peppering you with questions when I got here, I know you don’t need that,” said Carl apologetically.  

“I understand, he is your brother and is helping you out with Myra and Cheryl. I am going to grab some coffee for both of us, you still take it black right,” asked Carmine? 

“Yeah, black as my soul,” replied Carl attempting to bring some humor to the situation. “Is he awake or on anything?” 

“He is awake, just exhausted, I am sure. He might be dozing off. I told him to cut back his hours from seventy to sixty, “said Carmine. She left the room and headed out to grab coffee from the cafeteria or vending machine.  

To reach out to me, email [email protected] I would love to hear about your journey and what you are working on. If you would like to be on the show or have me discuss a topic that is giving you trouble write in and lets start that conversation.

• Email: [email protected]

Welcome friend to Create Art Podcast where I help you tame your inner critic and create more than we consume. I am Timothy Kimo Brien your thankful head instigator with over 20 years in arts and education. How I accomplish this is by providing you with commentary, interviews, discussions, and projects that will inspire you to create art. This month I will be podcasting daily and writing a novel in 30 days. I am participating in NaPodPoMo and NaNoWriMo again this year as I did last year and you can hear those episodes here. You will be able to listen and read along to what I wrote for the day. I like to practice what I preach when it comes to art so I am challenging myself to write and having you come along for the ride. It is my hope this inspires you to accomplish your goals with your art and if you would like to share what you are doing email me at [email protected]

NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a brand new novel. They enter the month as elementary school teachers, mechanics, or stay-at-home parents. They leave novelists.

NaPodPoMo: NaPodPoMo* is a month-long event along the same vein as National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo. The difference? Well, instead of writing a 50,000-word novel, you podcast every day for 30 days from November 1st-30th. Use any platform you desire. From full production studio to iPhone app and just about anything in between. The goal is to use the challenge of podcasting daily as a form of podcasting boot camp.

20 Nov 2021    daily count 1692 cumulative count 29320 

“What you are telling us is unbelievable. You mean to say that Myra has been around since the late 1500’s and has been passed along from one family to the next and this is the first time she has been passed to someone who is not technically a family. What are the odds,” replied Carl astonished? 

“Nate, I am not sure giving you those names will be good for us, it may violate the rules I the diary,” said Cheryl.  

“Well, we can’t really go any farther until we get those lists of names and no one has died since we started our research so there is a chance that what Harold did broke the curse,” replied Nate.  

“Myra did have another episode when I played some music earlier today. It was William Byrd’s music that triggered her episode. It seems like whenever these names are brought up outside of us saying them, she goes into an episode. Cheryl and I are going to have to talk about this,” replied Carl.  

“Don’t take too long thinking about this, if we can find information to help us out in understanding what we are dealing with here then we can make good choices and not make the same mistakes that these other families have made. It all ended badly for these other folks, and I’ll be damned if I am going to let anything happen to you little man. I don’t think you want anything bad to happen to Cheryl either and neither do I,” said Nate.  

“Nate, we will sleep on it, and we will talk to you tomorrow about this. I have the insurance paperwork mostly completed and I have the retirement paperwork completed. I need some help with  few details on what to put down for Myra and maybe Angela can help me with that when she gets time,” said Carl.  

“She hasn’t gotten back to you yet? She was supposed to set up a meeting with you both tomorrow. Did either of you get a text message or a call,” asked Nate worriedly?  

“I have had my phone on me all day and I was over with Carmine earlier today with Myra and I got no call,” said Cheryl.  

“Yeah, nothing on my phone either, I know that it is hard to get messages while I am at work but if there was a message from her it should have made it to my phone by now,” said Carl.  

“Okay it may have gotten stuck in transmission somewhere along the line when you went into work and lost signal. What I want you to do is both of you to reset your phones and then look for a message from Angela. Cheryl did you two exchange numbers when you were at my house on Sunday,” asked Nate? 

“Yeah she asked me and I have her number saved on my phone but I don’t think I lost signal anytime today,” replied Cheryl.  

“Who knows maybe you lost signal and just didn’t know it. I know it happens to me all the time out here that’s why I have landlines and two different carriers. Give that a try and give me a call back either way,” said Nate.  

“Okay talk to you in a few minutes big bro,” said Carl. Both Carl and Cheryl hit reset on their phones. They heard a tapping on the patio door which caused them to jump. It was Myra in her pajamas knocking on the glass door. Carl opened it up. “What are you doing up Myra, you should be asleep right now.” 

“I was sleeping, and I had a bad nightmare about Uncle Nate, Angela and Vince. It woke me up and you two weren’t in your bedroom and so I hear voices out on the patio and that’s why I knocked on the door,” said Myra sleepily.  

Carl and Cheryl’s phones turned back on at that time and were cycling through their checks. Cheryl walked into the apartment and took Myra’s hand and led her to the couch. “Hey sweetie, Carl and I were just talking to Uncle Nate, and we stepped out onto the patio to not wake you up. Uncle Nate is fine we were just talking to him,” said Cheryl reassuringly.  

Myra sat on the couch and yawned. “Can I sleep here until you are done talking with Uncle Nate,” asked Myra? 

“You should go to bed, I can tuck you in if that helps,” replied Cheryl. 

“I am not sure I can go back to bed, the dream seemed so real,” said Myra. Carl had stepped into the apartment and sat down next to Myra on the couch.  

“Do you think talking about the dream would help you fall back asleep,” asked Carl? Myra nodded her head meekly. “How about I pick you up and take you to bed and you can tell us all about it and maybe that will help,” asked Carl? Myra nodded her head again. Carl picked her up and Cheryl walked in front of them to open Myra’s bedroom door and turn on the light. Carl placed Myra gently on the bed and she got under the covers.  

“Do you need a night light Myra,” asked Cheryl? 

“That might be nice,” replied Myra. 

Cheryl went to the bathroom attached to Myra’s bedroom and turned on the light over the toilet and came back into the bedroom and shut the door most of the way. “Is that light enough for you Myra,” asked Cheryl? 

“That should work, thank you,” replied Myra. Carl and Cheryl sat on the edge of each side of the bed.  

“So, what happened Myra. Uncle Nate is fine, and I am sure Angela and Vince are fine too. Can you tell us what you dreamed about,” asked Carl softly? 

“Well, I was walking around Uncle Nate’s house and Seth and Rachel and Carmine weren’t there, but Uncle Nate, Angela and Vince were there. An old man came through the front door and took Uncle Nate, Angela, and Vince into Uncle Nate’s office. They didn’t want to go and they were yelling at the old man but he was too powerful and he took all three of them into the office. They were yelling in the office and then they were quiet. The old man came out of the office and walked right past me and smiled at me like he knew me. I was so scared, and I was crying silently because I couldn’t talk. When he left, I ran into Uncle Nate’s office because the door was still open and there they were, all three of the laying on the floor, unable to talk and reaching out to me. That’s when I woke up,” said Myra in a soft voice.  

“That is scary, I can see why you woke up. But let me tell you about Vince, he is very strong and fast and protective of Uncle Nate and Angela. Vince is one of the fastest and strongest people I know, and he would never let that happen to anyone he was protecting,” said Carl.  

“But he has only one eye,” replied Myra.  

“Yes, that’s true, but even with his one eye he is faster and stronger than just about everyone. He learned to adapt to make up for the loss of his eye. Uncle Nate is strong too and his office has things in it to help protect him so that no one could do anything to him. In fact, he has cameras all over his property so if someone tried to get on his property, he will know about it as soon as they step foot on it. Uncle Nate is well protected, and he also protects us from anything bad happening,” said Carl. 

 Carl’s cell hone indicated an emergency text coming through. He hugged Myra and left the rom to see what the issue was. Cheryl stayed with Myra while Carl read the message, it was not from Angela as he expected, it was from Carmine. It read ‘taking Nate to the hospital, not sure what happened after he talked with you, meet me there when you can, seems serious’. Carl’s heart froze. He texted Vince and Angela at the same time about what Carmine texted him. Panic filled his head. He berated himself for bringing his brother and his colleagues into this mess. He started to breath slowly to calm his nerves. There was no answer from Vince or Angela so he texted Carmine back. He wrote ‘I let Vince and Angela know by text, they haven’t responded, I will get to the hospital soon, just putting Myra to bed after she had a nightmare, be safe’. It took a few minutes for Carl to calm down, but when he felt his breathing and heart get back to normal, he put on his game face and went back to the bedroom. When he got there, Cheryl put her finger to her lips to shush him and he saw Myra sleeping soundly. Cheryl got up from the bed and walked out into the living room with Carl. They sat on the couch together and Carl handed his phone to her. She read through the text messages between Carmine and Carl.  

“Get over there now, I can watch her tonight. Just let me know what is going on okay. If I hear anything from Angela or Vince, I’ll let you know,” said Cheryl as she kissed Carl.  

“We need to be careful with that diary and with Myra. This just got turned up a notch,” said Carl.  

“Just get to the hospital and help Carmine, we can talk about this later when Nate is okay. Just go now and be careful, don’t let your emotions get out of check on this. We will be fine here,” said Cheryl.  

“Text me the moment she wakes up or if anything happens. Text me if you feel weird, just text me if anything is out of the ordinary okay,” said Carl.  

“Just let me know when you get to the hospital, I love you. We will get through this together,” said Cheryl.  

To reach out to me, email [email protected] I would love to hear about your journey and what you are working on. If you would like to be on the show or have me discuss a topic that is giving you trouble write in and lets start that conversation.

• Email: [email protected]

Welcome friend to Create Art Podcast where I help you tame your inner critic and create more than we consume. I am Timothy Kimo Brien your thankful head instigator with over 20 years in arts and education. How I accomplish this is by providing you with commentary, interviews, discussions, and projects that will inspire you to create art. This month I will be podcasting daily and writing a novel in 30 days. I am participating in NaPodPoMo and NaNoWriMo again this year as I did last year and you can hear those episodes here. You will be able to listen and read along to what I wrote for the day. I like to practice what I preach when it comes to art so I am challenging myself to write and having you come along for the ride. It is my hope this inspires you to accomplish your goals with your art and if you would like to share what you are doing email me at [email protected]

NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a brand new novel. They enter the month as elementary school teachers, mechanics, or stay-at-home parents. They leave novelists.

NaPodPoMo: NaPodPoMo* is a month-long event along the same vein as National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo. The difference? Well, instead of writing a 50,000-word novel, you podcast every day for 30 days from November 1st-30th. Use any platform you desire. From full production studio to iPhone app and just about anything in between. The goal is to use the challenge of podcasting daily as a form of podcasting boot camp.

18 Nov 2021    daily count 1778 cumulative count 27678 

“Are you feeling better now, it seems like you are okay,” asked Cheryl? 

“I am fine now; I am just tired of this stuff happening to me. It’s happened so many times before,” replied Myra.  

“I totally understand as much as someone can who has not had this happen to them. Probably Carl understands even more so since he has similar episodes,” replied Cheryl. 

“Will I die like Carl,” asked Myra? 

“What do you mean dear,” asked Carl? 

“Well, I had a dream that you were dead, and I was standing over your grave. It seemed so real, and everyone seems to be very gentle around you,” replied Myra.  

“I have no immediate plans on dying so don’t you worry,” said Carl. 

“I had a similar dream about my dad where I couldn’t find him anywhere and someone told me he had died and from what you told me my dad is dead. That’s why I am so worried about you,” said Myra.  

“Death is just a part of like and we don’t know when we are going to die, but I assure you I have a long time to go before we can even think of me dying,” replied Carl. Cheryl looked at Carl and mouthed “should we tell her about your tumor”? Carl shrugged his shoulders. “Myra, there is something I should tell you right now. I don’t know if you overheard any conversations and that is what caused your dream about me dying, but you need to know. I have a tumor in my brain that causes my episodes. That tumor is not in remission yet and probably won’t go into remission. As you can see, I can work and interact with people just fine. I can cook and drive and do everything a person without a tumor can do, but I am considered terminal and one day I will pass away. We don’t know when that will be, and I’d rather focus on the here and now, so I don’t think about it much. Well until you told us just now about the dream you had. I just thought you should know so it doesn’t come as a shock to you when it comes that time to let me go. I don’t want you to be scared for me, let me be scared for me. Just between the three of us, I am not that scared. And yes, that is why people are always worried about me,” said Carl.  

“Maybe I have the same thing in my brain as you,” replied Myra. 

“We can get you checked out once I get this paperwork done tonight. That is one of the main reasons I went into work today is to get the paperwork and see if we can get you help with this problem. How about we eat dinner and work on the paperwork together,” asked Carl? 

“But that’s grownup paperwork, what if I don’t know the answers,” asked Myra? 

“Then we will wing it. Remember you have me here to Myra to help you out. We will be with you every step of the way,” Cheryl chimed in.  

“So, we are like the three musketeers,” asked Myra? 

“We are tighter than the three musketeers because we are family,” said Cheryl. 

“That makes me feel better,” said Myra. 

“Good, now I am going to get this lovely dinner put together because you both have done a wonderful job and Myra, do you want to work on the desert,” asked Cheryl? 

“Sure, I may need a hand” replied Myra.  

“I’ll just hang out in the living room and play some music,” said Carl as he headed toward the couch. 

“No jazz or classical,” said Myra and Cheryl in unison. All three laughed at that and Carl turned on some alternative rock for the 90’s station. He thought that would be a safe bet and nothing would cause Myra to have another episode. He grabbed a book from the shelf and started reading as Myra and Cheryl put together dinner and desert. He was slowly drifting off when he heard Myra putting out the plates and silverware. A few moments later Cheryl came over to him and let him know dinner was served. She was making sure he hadn’t drifted off to far or was having his own episode. Carl got up and everyone sat at the dinner table. They began eating in earnest and silence. When they finished the meal Myra got up and took the plates away and brought back a tray of vegan cookies and glasses of chocolate milk.  

“Uncle Nate's vegan cookies, I hope you like them because I followed his recipe,” said Myra proudly. Carl and Cheryl devoured the cookies and smiled at Myra. 

“I think we have a desert chef in the house, what do you think Cheryl,” asked Carl? 

“These are delicious and better than the cookies we had at Uncle Nate’s,” replied Cheryl. Before all the cookies were gone Carl took out his phone and took a picture of what was left. He then sent it to Nate with the caption ‘better than yours, Myra can bake!’  They finished the cookies and Carl took the platter and the glasses to the dishwasher.  

“Well since you both made a wonderful meal; I’ll get the dishes done. Why don’t you two have a seat on the couch and I’ll grab the paperwork that we need to fill out,” said Carl. Carl started the dishwasher after he loaded it up. He then went to his room and grabbed the paperwork and went to the living room where Cheryl and Myra were already sitting. It took them about an hour to fill out the paperwork as best as possible because they didn’t have all of Myra’s information. Once completed it was about nine o’clock and Myra was yawning.  

“Is this what adulting is all about,” asked Myra? 

“Yep, boring paperwork and lots of it. But adults do get to have some fun playing with their kids,” replied Carl. “Do you want to head to bed dear?” 

“Yeah, I think I better,” replied Myra. “Goodnight.” Myra went to her room and Carl and Cheryl waited until they heard that she was done in the bathroom. Myra’s light clicked off and Carl started to dial Nate. Cheryl motioned Carl to the patio, and he met her out there.  

“We don’t want to wake her up and I am sure Nate doesn’t want her to hear what we talk about,” whispered Cheryl.  

Nate answered his phone and Carl put him on speaker softly. “Hey old man, the kids in bed and I have Cheryl here on the patio. You wanted to talk,” asked Carl? The dishwasher was making noise in the background to cover up the conversation.  

“Yeah, do you got me on speaker,” asked Nate? 

“We do but we have the dishwasher going and we are out on the patio,” replied Carl.  

“Just as long as the neighbors don’t hear. We did some research on those names you sent me,” said Nate. 

“What names,” asked Cheryl? 

“I sent Nate the names of the individuals that had signed the book before us,” replied Carl.  

“So, as you know Harold was the last one before you two signed the book. Now you went against my cardinal rule of not signing anything without a lawyer present, but I’ll forgive you for that for now. Just make sure you don’t sign anything else,” said Nate. 

“We were filling out paperwork for insurance for my job,” said Carl. 

“Let me see it before you turn it in,” said Nate.  

“Sure thing, we just wanted to get Myra set up for medical ASAP because I’d like her to see my neurologist in case the episodes can be treated,” replied Carl. 

“Well, you might want to hold off on that until after you hear what I have to say. Anyhow, Harold was easy enough to find out information on, but the older names you gave us was a much harder task. The first name in the diary John Dee, he goes back to the 1500’s. The second name you gave me Digges, he is right after in the 1500’s and early 1600’s. Both men were in Britain at that time and John was an advisor to Queen Elizabeth the first. Dudley Digges was a son of a student of his named Thomas,” said Nate.  

Well Jon Dees sounds like a common name, could we be mistaken,” asked Cheryl? 

“That’s initially what we thought, however, we found out that he had a child named Myra. So, I think we are on the right track with this guy. His student also had a daughter of indeterminate age named Myra. Now John died in late 1608 or early 1609 and no mention of her after 1609 can be found until we look at Dudley who had a child be the name of Myra. Dudley died in 1639. Now the next name you had was Grover Brecht, he had a child of indeterminate age named Myra and he died in the early 1900’s. Obviously we know what happened to Harold who just recently passed away. As far as William Byrd, no child named Myra, but he lived in Britain during the same time as John Dee, so it is possible that they knew each other,” 

To reach out to me, email [email protected] I would love to hear about your journey and what you are working on. If you would like to be on the show or have me discuss a topic that is giving you trouble write in and lets start that conversation.

• Email: [email protected]

Welcome friend to Create Art Podcast where I help you tame your inner critic and create more than we consume. I am Timothy Kimo Brien your thankful head instigator with over 20 years in arts and education. How I accomplish this is by providing you with commentary, interviews, discussions, and projects that will inspire you to create art. This month I will be podcasting daily and writing a novel in 30 days. I am participating in NaPodPoMo and NaNoWriMo again this year as I did last year and you can hear those episodes here. You will be able to listen and read along to what I wrote for the day. I like to practice what I preach when it comes to art so I am challenging myself to write and having you come along for the ride. It is my hope this inspires you to accomplish your goals with your art and if you would like to share what you are doing email me at [email protected]

NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a brand new novel. They enter the month as elementary school teachers, mechanics, or stay-at-home parents. They leave novelists.

NaPodPoMo: NaPodPoMo* is a month-long event along the same vein as National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo. The difference? Well, instead of writing a 50,000-word novel, you podcast every day for 30 days from November 1st-30th. Use any platform you desire. From full production studio to iPhone app and just about anything in between. The goal is to use the challenge of podcasting daily as a form of podcasting boot camp.

17 Nov 2021    daily count 1152 cumulative count 25850 

Carl looked at the message from Cheryl and wrote down the instructions for the meal. Myra and Carl chopped the vegetables and Myra started to make her rice. Once they finished the prep work Carl went to turn on the television and to play something soothing from the music channel. He passed over the jazz station for fear of hearing another Grover Brecht song and chose some classical music. A piece by William Byrd came on and Myra took her book and sat on the couch.  

“I am going to change out of these work clothes and into something more casual. I’ll leave the music on for you if that’s okay,” said Carl as he made his way to his bedroom. Myra didn’t respond and Carl thought it may have been that she didn’t hear him. Before he entered his bedroom, he went to the office to retrieve the diary. He wanted to check the names of the people who had signed the book before Cheryl and himself. He thought there could be some connection with the names and when Myra went into an episode. When he opened the diary, he saw the first name listed was John Dee. He has never heard of this person in his history classes and thought it was odd that the NPR station would be doing a piece on him at just that time when he turned on the radio. The next name looked like Thomas Digges. Carl saw that Grover Brecht’s name was listed as well as John Esten Cooke. He quickly messaged Nate and Vince about this information. As he hit send, he felt worried that he may have violated the terms of the diary, so he closed the book and locked it away in his deck. He then went to his bedroom and still heard the music playing from the television but nothing else. He peeked in the living room to see that Myra was still just sitting on the couch, not moving. He reasoned that she is probably just reading her book, so he went back to his bedroom and began to change into jeans and a t-shirt. When he was done changing, he went out into the living room and the same music was still playing. It had been about ten minutes he thought, but since it was classical, he reasoned that the music playing was part of a symphony.  When he sat down on the love seat across from Myra, he saw that she was staring right into the television and slightly waving her arms like a conductor. She was in time with the music and seemed to be engrossed. He checked the information about the music, and it was still William Byrd. He forgot what song it had started on, but it sounded like what had been playing earlier. He waved his hand in front of Myra’s eyes and there was no response, so he turned off the television.  

“Daddy John daddy John, I love this music, can they start it again,” asked Myra? 

“Myra, it’s me Carl,” said Carl worriedly. He reached over and held Myra closely and started humming “My Favorite things” to her to help her come back. It took a few minutes for Myra to come back, but when she did, she closed her eyes slightly and then opened them wide.  

“Did I have another episode,” asked Myra? 

“Yeah, it was when I turned on the music. Have you heard of William Byrd,” asked Carl? 

“I have no idea who that is,” replied Myra annoyedly.  

“You were conducting the music and you were keeping time with the music perfectly. Did Harold ever play classical music for you, or have you gone to a concert with classical music,” asked Carl? 

“I have no idea who this person is, I have gone to a concert before with a conductor but that was years ago. He didn’t play much music at all, not as much as you play,” said Myra.  

“It's okay it's okay, I know this all must be confusing to you right now. I know it is confusing to me. Let's just watch some cartoons, can I get you a drink of water or chocolate milk,” replied Carl? 

“That would be great," said Myra.  

Carl turned on the television and put on a cartoon channel. He then went to the kitchen and grabbed a glass and poured some chocolate milk for Myra. He placed the glass in front of her on the coffee table and sat down next to her. She was softly sobbing when he put his arm around her.  

“Shhhh, it’s going to be okay,” said Carl trying to comfort Myra.  

“I have always had these episodes where I blank out and wake up and someone is holding me. I just want it to stop,” cried Myra.  

“I want it to stop for you as well. I have them too and I know how frustrating it can be especially when you don’t know when they will happen. Just drink some milk and let’s just try to relax and have a good time,” said Carl.  

The sun was going down when Cheryl got home at seven thirty. Both Carl and Myra were on the couch watching cartoons and laughing a little bit when she walked in. Cheryl looked in the kitchen where all the vegetables were chopped, and the rice was already cooked and ready to go. She went to the bedroom and changed from her work clothes to sweats and a t-shirt. When she came out both Carl and Myra were still watching cartoons.  

“Hey, you two, having some bonding time I see. Let’s get dinner started up. Myra, did you need anything to make the desert,” asked Cheryl? 

“I got the recipe here,” Myra said as she grabbed her book. She went into the kitchen and gathered the ingredients.  

“Do you need the oven for anything,” asked Cheryl? 

“Nope, I can make it without an oven, do you need a hand with dinner,” asked Myra? 

“I got it. You guys did very good getting everything prepped for me. How was your afternoon,” asked Cheryl? 

Myra looked at her meekly. “I had another episode,” she said the words softly.  

“Are you okay, how long did it last, what triggered it,” asked Cheryl? 

“We had on some classical music when we got back and after we prepped the veggies. It was music by William Byrd, does that name ring a bell for you, “asked Carl? 

“No how about you Myra,” replied Cheryl? 

“Carl already asked me that and I have no idea who that guy was,” replied Myra.  

“She was conducting and when I turned off the music, she was asking for daddy John again. She doesn’t know who daddy John is. I put in a message to Nate and Vince about who those guys might be and if there is any connection,” said Carl.  

To reach out to me, email [email protected] I would love to hear about your journey and what you are working on. If you would like to be on the show or have me discuss a topic that is giving you trouble write in and lets start that conversation.

• Email: [email protected]

Welcome friend to Create Art Podcast where I help you tame your inner critic and create more than we consume. I am Timothy Kimo Brien your thankful head instigator with over 20 years in arts and education. How I accomplish this is by providing you with commentary, interviews, discussions, and projects that will inspire you to create art. This month I will be podcasting daily and writing a novel in 30 days. I am participating in NaPodPoMo and NaNoWriMo again this year as I did last year and you can hear those episodes here. You will be able to listen and read along to what I wrote for the day. I like to practice what I preach when it comes to art so I am challenging myself to write and having you come along for the ride. It is my hope this inspires you to accomplish your goals with your art and if you would like to share what you are doing email me at [email protected]

NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a brand new novel. They enter the month as elementary school teachers, mechanics, or stay-at-home parents. They leave novelists.

NaPodPoMo: NaPodPoMo* is a month-long event along the same vein as National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo. The difference? Well, instead of writing a 50,000-word novel, you podcast every day for 30 days from November 1st-30th. Use any platform you desire. From full production studio to iPhone app and just about anything in between. The goal is to use the challenge of podcasting daily as a form of podcasting boot camp.

16 Nov 2021    daily count 1687 cumulative count 24598 

The HR representative handed Carl a folder of papers for him to fill out to add Cheryl and Myra onto his insurance plan and to add Cheryl to his retirement plan. He went back to his desk and put the folder on his desk to take home later. He got back to work on his emails and projects and by the time he looked up again it was noon. He decided to grab lunch at the nearby grocery store that had a sandwich counter. A text from Nate came through to his phone as he got into his car to leave for lunch. The text read did you look at Vince’s report with Cheryl. Carl replied they did last night. Nate messaged back that they needed to meet with her and Cheryl as soon as possible. Carl replied that Cheryl was working this afternoon and did it need to be in person. Nate replied it could be over the phone tonight. Carl then messaged Chery that Nate wanted to talk over the phone tonight after they put Myra to bed, and Cheryl replied a few minutes later with a simple OK.  

Carl parked his car in the grocery store lot and grabbed a prepackaged sandwich, a bag of chips and a soft drink. He drove back to work and ate his lunch in his car with the radio on. The only sound was of the traffic from the main road and Carl ate in the silence he craved. He finished his lunch and went back into the building where he worked and sat back down at his desk.  

Carl finished work without much fanfare that day, he had handled all the emails from when he was gone and ensured all of his projects were on a good path. He accomplished a great bit and now it was time to go to the shop and pick up Myra. He checked his phone for messages and saw that Cheryl had left him pictures of the crafts that Myra and Carmine had made throughout the day. Another smile creeped across his face as he headed over to the coffee shop.  

Once he got there, he parked his car near the front door and took a moment to look around for the car that Harold used to drive. He almost laughed at himself for looking for the car since he knew Harold was dead, but he still scanned the lot for the car just in case. Carl wondered what he would do if someone tried to take Myra away from them at this point, how would he react. Instantly he knew that he would fight with whatever strength he still had to keep his newly formed family together. Wit that he entered the coffee shop and looked around for Myra. He found her standing behind the counter with an apron on and helping with orders. Cheryl called out to Carl from the kitchen. 

“Hey Carl, Myra will be done after she clears the orders she is working on, take a seat and I’ll grab a sandwich for you.” 

Carl took a seat where he usually did, on the couches facing the street out front. Myra brought him a drink and a sandwich. “Thank you, good helper, how was your day today with Carmine,” asked Carl? 

“We had a great time over there and we made some centerpieces for our dining room table. You’ll see once we get home. How was work today,” asked Myra? 

“Had to play catch up and get some paperwork to fill out later tonight. I think you can help me with it,” replied Carl.  

“I am going to finish the orders that Cheryl got me started on and then we can go. I like working here and meeting all the people that come here, no wonder you love this place so much,” said Myra.  

Cheryl came out from the kitchen and sat across from Carl as Myra went back behind the counter. “She wanted to get behind the counter and help out when we got here, and my boss was cool with it. How was your day,” asked Cheryl? 

“Got a packet to fill out for insurance and retirement. Nate wants to talk to us tonight after we put Myra down to bed. I got caught up with all my emails and all my projects are on time. Overall, not a bad day. My boss wants me to take some time off and is going to make sure all my work is covered by someone there, he knows I’m very particular in how I get things done there,” said Carl.  

“Is it a family thing that you guys never sleep,” asked Cheryl? 

“We sleep, eventually. I slept well last night. We just like getting things done. You saw how big that house is and their lot, that’s all paid for in cash no credit at all. My brother makes me look lazy, so I guess Carmine got the bad brother,” joked Carl.  

“Not everyone can work those long hours that you guys' work. How are you feeling today,” asked Cheryl? 

“I am doing good, no episodes. How did Myra do,” asked Carl? 

“She was a champ through everything. We made breakfast and I saw that you didn’t take any lunch with you so that’s why we made you this sandwich. You better eat it up quick because the after-work rush hour will be here, and Myra will be drowning in orders. No issues or episodes with her at all today, no crazy talk about dead people,” replied Cheryl.  

Carl was happy hearing this and his smile grew. He looked at Cheryl deeply in the eyes and mindlessly ate his sandwich. Cheryl grabbed his hand and slightly squeezed it and stood up to go back to the kitchen to help. Carl didn’t want her to go but knew that she was on the clock and didn’t want to jeopardize her job. As he sat and ate Myra sat down across next to him with her chocolate milk. He broke off a few pieces of his sandwich to give to her and they sat there and smiled at each other. When they finished the sandwich, Myra took the plate back to the kitchen and returned with her apron off and her book in her hand. Carl stood up and met her at the register.  

Carl called out to Cheryl, “we are heading out, see you at the apartment.” 

“What do you want for dinner tonight, we grabbed a few things at the store today and put them away. I was thinking of something vegetarian, and Myra said she wanted to do the desert,” replied Cheryl as she came out from the kitchen to see them off.  

“Nate and Carmine are the vegan wizards, I don’t have any good recipes for a vegetarian meal,” replied Carl.  

“No worries, carmine gave me a few ideas, I’ll text you one of the recipes that Carmine suggested. Do you think you can prep so when I get home, we can put it all together,” asked Cheryl? 

“I have a great assistant so I think we can handle that part,” replied Carl.  

Cheryl grabbed Carl before they left and kissed him. “Take good care of Carl Myra, he has had a long day,” said Cheryl as she broke off the kiss and looked at Myra.  

“See ya at home then,” replied Carl. They went to Carl’s car and got in. “What do you want to listen to on the way home, do you want music or news,” asked Carl? 

“I wouldn’t mind hearing the news. It makes me feel all grown up, “replied Myra.  

Carl put on the NPR station hesitantly. He hoped that there would be no mention of the body from the announcer. Instead, there was a program on that was talking about occult leaders from the past. One name that was mentioned was John Dee. Carl had never heard of that person before but something in him made him take note of the name. The program wasn’t finished when they made it back to the apartment, and when carl tried to turn the car off, he found that he couldn’t. The key would not move, and he looked back at Myra in the back seat. She was transfixed on the radio. Carl couldn’t unlock the doors or open them, so he sat and waited until the program was over. When the announcer went on to another story, he was able to turn off the car and open his door. Myra broke her trance as if nothing had happened and opened her door to leave the car and go to the apartment.  

“What happened just now,” asked Carl? 

“What do you mean,” replied Myra.  

“I couldn’t shut off the car, I couldn’t open the windows or doors and you were staring at the radio. Have you heard of the guy they were talking about on that show,” asked Carl? 

“What radio show are you talking about. Didn’t you just put on a podcast,” said Myra. 

“No, I had on the radio, and I couldn’t get out of the car until they stopped talking about him,” replied Carl.  

“You actually just sat there for a short while not moving while the podcast was on. I didn’t want to disturb you because you looked like you were really into it, that’s what happened,” said Myra.  

Carl knew what he had just experienced, and he was sure he didn’t just have another episode. Instead of arguing with Myra and making her upset he just shrugged his shoulders and started towards the apartment.  

“Are you mad at me,” asked Myra? 

“No, I am not mad at you. Of course not. I must have just dozed off or something after I parked the car. Kinda like a daydream. Let's get those veggies prepared for Cheryl and watch some cartoons,” replied Carl. He opened the front door and headed for the kitchen to see what food they had bought. His phone buzzed at him indicating a message had come through, it was Cheryl with the recipe from Carmine.  

To reach out to me, email [email protected] I would love to hear about your journey and what you are working on. If you would like to be on the show or have me discuss a topic that is giving you trouble write in and lets start that conversation.

• Email: [email protected]

Welcome friend to Create Art Podcast where I help you tame your inner critic and create more than we consume. I am Timothy Kimo Brien your thankful head instigator with over 20 years in arts and education. How I accomplish this is by providing you with commentary, interviews, discussions, and projects that will inspire you to create art. This month I will be podcasting daily and writing a novel in 30 days. I am participating in NaPodPoMo and NaNoWriMo again this year as I did last year and you can hear those episodes here. You will be able to listen and read along to what I wrote for the day. I like to practice what I preach when it comes to art so I am challenging myself to write and having you come along for the ride. It is my hope this inspires you to accomplish your goals with your art and if you would like to share what you are doing email me at [email protected]

NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a brand new novel. They enter the month as elementary school teachers, mechanics, or stay-at-home parents. They leave novelists.

NaPodPoMo: NaPodPoMo* is a month-long event along the same vein as National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo. The difference? Well, instead of writing a 50,000-word novel, you podcast every day for 30 days from November 1st-30th. Use any platform you desire. From full production studio to iPhone app and just about anything in between. The goal is to use the challenge of podcasting daily as a form of podcasting boot camp.

15 Nov 2021    daily count 1745 cumulative count 23011 

Carl went to the living room and sat down with Cheryl and turned on the television and put on some jazz. They both said aloud “No Grover Brecht dammit,” and the music came on. They sat on the couch and just held hands for some time. It felt nice to Carl to just hold hands with someone again and Cheryl put her head on his shoulder. They stayed that way until almost midnight when Cheryl got up and motioned for Carl to come to bed. He turned off the television and followed her to bed. Once in the bedroom Cheryl turned on the light and disrobed and climbed into bed. Carl stood there and looked at her. 

“You should probably get into your pajamas and come to bed,” said Cheryl. Carl took off his clothes until he got down to his underwear and put his phone on the charger and turned on some soft music again. “No jazz, maybe something light like classical would be nice. I know you like to listen to music when you sleep. It won’t bother me I’m too tired to let it disturb me.” He climbed into ned with her and set the alarm for 6 AM.  

“I have to go to work early tomorrow, I promise to be quiet,” said Carl but Cheryl was already asleep. He turned out the light and fell into a sound sleep. The night passed without any fanfare, his snoring didn’t wake Cheryl and when the alarm went off, he quickly turned it off. He got up in the dark and went to the bathroom to shower and get ready for work. Once the water hit his face, he felt refreshed and ready to tackle whatever the day brought him. Once done with the shower he shaved his face and felt truly clean. The worries from the weekend passed away. Usually, he would have music on at this time, but he didn’t want to disturb Cheryl, so he got ready in silence. He walked to the closet and picked out his clothes for the day. Once dressed he went back to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. He inspected his clothes to make sure everything was where it needed to be and turned out the light. When he entered the room again Cheryl was sitting up in bed and looking through her phone.  

“How did you sleep,” Carl asked? 

“You don’t snore as bad as you think you do. I slept just fine. It was nice having someone next to me. I was worried I’d miss you but when you got up, I woke up and figured I’d wait to you were done in the bathroom. This is going to work; Myra and I will have a fun time at Carmine’s, and you will come get Myra at the shop. We aren’t leaving, I am in this for the long haul, and I know you are too,” said Cheryl. Carl came to her side of the bed and kissed her for the first time since this whole thing started. It felt good to do that and she welcomed the kiss. “Now grab your coffee and get to work, I’ll text you if anything happens.” 

Carl closed the bedroom door and went to the kitchen where is coffee was already brewed and ready to pour. He took out his travel mug and filled it, then he took out a cup and poured a bowl of cereal with milk and quietly ate. The sun was coming up little by little to start the day and he sat there in the dark of the kitchen and ate his food slowly. Looking at his watch he saw that he had a few minutes before he had to leave. He walked to Myra’s door and peered in to see that she was still asleep. Her breathing was slow and rhythmic. She had a slight smile on her face which made him smile. He felt good being a father, even if it meant he would die. He closed her door and walked back to the kitchen to put away the bowl and mug. He checked on the dishes in the dishwasher and the heat came out of the door and warmed his face. At that time, he was ready to go and left quietly and locked the door behind him. He made it to his car and turned it on. The radio was on the NPR station and the announcer was talking about the body found in the next town that he assumed was Harold. He turned off the radio and plugged in his phone to turn on a podcast. It was one that brought inanimate objects to life and interviewed those objects. This time it was a light post which had an Irish accent. He listened and started to laugh at the absurdity of the story.  He put the car in drive and left the quiet apartment complex headed for work. When he got to work, he discovered that he forgot to make a lunch for himself, luckily there was a couple of fast-food establishments nearby where he could grab a quick bite to eat. None of them were healthy choices, but he figured he deserved to splurge today after the weekend he had.  

When Carl got into work, he headed for his desk and was met by his boss Fred. “Carl, can you meet me in my office for a few minutes before you start work today?” They went to Fred’s office and Fred closed the door. “Okay I am not prying because you are one of my best employees and I like to think of you as a friend. Is everything okay, do you need to take some time off. Lord knows you barely take any time for yourself?” 

“Things got weird this weekend. I will be taking some time off soon, about a week or two. This weekend was pretty nuts for me, and I am not at one hundred percent today, but I do want to get some work done and prep our clients for me being out,” replied Carl.  

“Take the time, no worries, just let me know when you will be back. There is plenty of work here for everyone and I am sure we can get someone to cover your accounts while you are out. Is there anything I can do for you while you are out,” asked Fred? 

“Not really, I have people helping me out now that are working on the issues, but I will need to talk with HR about adding two people on my insurance. I have a qualifying event,” said Carl. 

“Of course, I can get you into HR anytime today, let’s say about 10 AM. Will that work,” asked Fred? 

“Yeah, that should work. Thanks for being so understanding, just some weird stuff going on at home and well, I am adding to the household. Going to get married soon an adopt a child,” replied Carl. 

“Well, that definitely is news. I don’t remember you talking about adopting before, you know we have a program that can help you out with that, and marriage, wow life is really turning around for you,” replied Fred.  

“Can we keep that just to ourselves. I don’t want it getting around the office and don’t want anyone making a fuss,” said Carl.  

“Definitely, I can keep it quiet. Is everything okay though, I mean is this something you wanted to happen,” asked Fred? 

“It wasn’t on my ten-year plan but it just happened and so we are getting everything sorted out. I really appreciate you keeping quiet on this, you know me, I don’t even like telling people when my birthday is,” said Carl.  

“Well, let me know what you need, I have your back and not just because you are such a great employee, you are a great person,” said Fred.  

Carl went back to his desk and started up his terminal. He had about one hundred emails to answer and he needed to check on the status on a few projects he was working on. When he looked up next from his pile of emails it was close to ten o’clock. He needed to head over to HR like Fred said and get a packet from them to add Cheryl and Myra onto his insurance. He finished up the email he was working on and determined that he was not as far behind as he thought. Luckily, he always was ahead of his projects and workload so he could slide for a few days without any interruption in service for his clients. He went over to the HR office and signed in. He waited there about five minutes when someone he didn’t know called his name. He was directed to another office in the back and was sat in a small cubicle with the HR person.  

“Carl, how can we help you today,” asked the woman behind the desk? 

“Well, I am going to be getting married and adopting a child in the near future and naturally I need to get them on my insurance so I suppose I’ll need the paperwork for that and if you could tell me how quickly they can be added on that would be great to know,” replied Carl.  

“That should be easy enough, so the insurance will need copies of their social security cards and birth certificates and the paperwork is pretty easy to fill out. Once you have those documents then just bring them back to me or you can email them to me, and we will get your wife and child set up on your insurance. Oh, and we will need a copy of your marriage license to add your wife on. How about your retirement, I see we have your ex-wife on the account, will you be dropping her from your retirement, if so, we would need a copy of the updated divorce decree showing that she is waiving her portion of your retirement,” said the HR woman.  

“Wow I hadn’t thought about that, let’s just do the insurance for now and then we can tackle the retirement at a later date,” replied Carl.  

“You have ninety days to make that declaration from the time you get remarried, you could leave her on and add your new wife onto the account to start and then work things out with your ex-wife,” said the HR lady.  

To reach out to me, email [email protected] I would love to hear about your journey and what you are working on. If you would like to be on the show or have me discuss a topic that is giving you trouble write in and lets start that conversation.

• Email: [email protected]

Welcome friend to Create Art Podcast where I help you tame your inner critic and create more than we consume. I am Timothy Kimo Brien your thankful head instigator with over 20 years in arts and education. How I accomplish this is by providing you with commentary, interviews, discussions, and projects that will inspire you to create art. This month I will be podcasting daily and writing a novel in 30 days. I am participating in NaPodPoMo and NaNoWriMo again this year as I did last year and you can hear those episodes here. You will be able to listen and read along to what I wrote for the day. I like to practice what I preach when it comes to art so I am challenging myself to write and having you come along for the ride. It is my hope this inspires you to accomplish your goals with your art and if you would like to share what you are doing email me at [email protected]

NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a brand new novel. They enter the month as elementary school teachers, mechanics, or stay-at-home parents. They leave novelists.

NaPodPoMo: NaPodPoMo* is a month-long event along the same vein as National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo. The difference? Well, instead of writing a 50,000-word novel, you podcast every day for 30 days from November 1st-30th. Use any platform you desire. From full production studio to iPhone app and just about anything in between. The goal is to use the challenge of podcasting daily as a form of podcasting boot camp.

14 Nov 2021    daily count 1681 cumulative count 21266 

Carl went to the office to grab the diary. He knew that it would be futile to argue with Cheryl about who would write in the diary and since he never kept a diary in the past, he thought about what they would write since no one would be allowed to read it according to the rules posted on the first page. He brought the diary to the living room where Cheryl was lounging on the couch. She had finished her water and had replaced it with two sodas.  

“Before we get started with the diary, did you read the message from Vince. It may not make much sense because I need to let you know what Nate and Vince found out,” said Carl.  

“I haven’t read it yet, I figured we could read it together,” replied Cheryl. “I’m thinking of heading over to Nate and Carmine’s tomorrow with Myra. She really seemed to blossom over there.” 

“I’ll give her a text to let her know, do you know what time you plan to head over there,” Carl asked? 

“Before lunch for sure, probably 10 AM. Is that too early,” asked Cheryl? 

“Figure you two will need to leave here at 9 AM, that should be early enough. I’ll let her know and can I give her your number,” asked Carl? 

“That should be fine. Now what were you boys talking about in Nate’s clubhouse,” asked Cheryl.  

“Well, we believe that Harold is not her real father. Vince found out that he was married for 10 years, and Myra came on the scene 3 years ago. The wife died shortly afterward of natural causes according to the coroner’s report. Her father died of the same causes, but the police suspect either suicide or foul play. The authorities don’t know about Myra yet, the cops found the body in a hotel with no personal effects and Vince found out that they had been staying at another hotel in the next state over for three months. Vince knows where their house is and is checking on that and a few other things. So, three years ago they adopted Myra and got her into school. The story was that they were helping the husband’s sister, the problem with that story is that both the husband and the wife were only children. They got Myra into school so that is to be checked out. The last bit of information may be in the message Vince sent us. Myra had another episode while she was sleeping on the way back from Nate’s. I had on a podcast and when one of the actor’s names was mentioned it triggered her to ask for daddy John, daddy John may be John Cooke either the younger who is a voice actor or the elder who is a writer from the eighteen hundreds. I asked Vince to look up on that as well as a jazz musician Grover Brecht whose name triggered Myra as well,” Carl said.  

Cheryl’s jaw dropped. “I think I am going to need something stronger than a coke to continue this conversation. Are you telling me that that little nine-year-old girl may be oh say a hundred years old or older,” asked an astonished Cheryl? 

“This is what we know right now, lets read that message from Vince and see what he says,” replied Carl. He pulled out his phone and opened the attachment from Vince. Cheryl got in closer to read over his shoulder. The message contained information about the John Esten Cooke. There was two dossiers included in the message, there was one about the voice actor which had no connection with Myra or with her father. He seemed to be cleared of any interest. He was a freelance voice actor of some renown within the business but not a name most people would know. The other dossier was more in depth about this John Esten Cooke. He was a novelist and poet during the Civil War in Virginia. In 1877 there was a note of a young girl that came to live with John Cooke and his family and about a yar later his wife had died. Mr Cooke lived until 1886 and there was no mention of what happened to the girl after that. The girl’s name was Myra and she was described as a young girl of indeterminate age. In the same dossier was an entry regarding Grover Brecht. There were few notes, but it detailed how Grover later in life had taken in a young girl of indeterminate age named Myra before he passed away. The girls name was Myra, and it was unknown if he had written music dedicated to her.  

Carl and Cheryl just stared at the screen for what seemed an eternity. Cheryl saw a tear in Carl’s eye running down his cheek. She took the phone out of his hand and placed it on the coffee table. She then embraced Carl as the tears flowed freely from his eyes. He didn’t sob or make any sound but clutched onto Cheryl for all he was worth. Another eternity passed and Carl broke the embrace and wiped the tears from his eyes.  

“I’m sorry, we have sealed our death warrants with this cursed diary,” said Carl tearing up again. “This isn’t fair to you, I’m the one who is dying anyhow, you are so young and have so much to live for.” 

“Shut it, this isn’t your fault. I brought you into this. We will get through this I don’t care what the history is. Those two other guys, they already had families, you didn’t have one. We can beat this and break the curse and if Myra is over a hundred years old, we can break it for her as well so she can grow up and live her life,” said Cheryl.  

“How do we break the curse, that’s the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question. I didn’t study curse breaking in college,” said Carl.  

“Doesn’t Vince or Nate know, how about Angela, did she bring something to help us out. I don’t know either, but this is the hand we have been dealt right now and we got a nine-year-old girl without a family except us. We can’t let her down, we gotta try,” said Cheryl.  

Carl took a deep breath and sighed. “I’ve never had a diary, I have no idea what to write in one, especially one that isn’t mine.” 

“Lucky for you I have kept one when I was younger. I think we just stick to the facts of what we know. Since we are both going to write something I think we should read what the other person writes and if anything needs to be added then that person gets to add, no one gets to subtract. Does that sound fair to you,” asked Cheryl? 

“Who writes first, or do we get to switch off each time. I think switching off each time is fair,” replied Carl.  

“That sounds fair. How about we rock, paper, scissor to see who writes first,” asked Cheryl? 

Both adults held their fist and they each counted to three while raising and lowering their fists. Carl threw rock and Cheryl threw scissor. He breathed deeply again and took out a pen. He opened the diary to where the page marker was left from the last time Harold had written in it. Carl tried to write the date, but no ink came out of his pen. He tried to scribble on the page but still no ink went on the paper. He shook the pen and still nothing. He looked at Cheryl puzzled. She took the pen out of his hands and tried to scribble on the corner of the page, nothing.  

 “Do we need to wake up Myra, is that something we missed,” asked Cheryl? 

“There was nothing about that in the rules, not that I remember anyways,” replied Carl. He flipped the pages back to the first page and read through the rules again. There was nothing about mentioning Myra or having a person present when writing in the diary. He handed it to Cheryl, and she read through it and found nothing.  

“Do you have another pen or maybe a pencil,” asked Cheryl? Carl went into his bedroom and grabbed another pen; he wrote on his hand to ensure that the pen would write, and the ink flowed just fine on his skin. When he returned to the living room, he opened the diary to the page they would be writing on, and the ink flowed. They both chuckled a little bit. “I thought it was a sign that I should write first. We are a little bit too spooked right now.” 

“Yeah, you know what ladies first. You have experience with diaries,” replied Carl.  

Cheryl took the pen out of Carl’s hand and began to write. She put down the date first and then thought about what she would write. 

“You are going to write more than just the date right,” asked Carl? 

“This takes time. We are writing a diary for the people behind us without knowing much about what came before us,” replied Cheryl. She took a sip of her soda and then got into her writing. She included information on how they met Myra, who they were, the time at Nates and that Myra sensed that her so called father had died. Carl read through what Cheryl wrote before starting to write himself. He added more detailed information on what had been discovered about Myra’s latest father and their suspicion’s of her other father’s and how old she might be. Cheryl read through what Carl wrote and smiled. 

“You misspelled a few words, and your grammar is not great,” joked Cheryl. 

“It’s a diary, a cursed diary that no one is supposed to read, unless they want to die. I think I am okay to use alternate spelling,” replied Carl. They placed the bookmark on the last page they wrote on and closed the diary. Carl took it to the office and locked it up.  

To reach out to me, email [email protected] I would love to hear about your journey and what you are working on. If you would like to be on the show or have me discuss a topic that is giving you trouble write in and lets start that conversation.

• Email: [email protected]