Our Island

Mason was the single father of a young, eight year old daughter, Kia. One day, when the weather outside was sunny and warm with a nice cool breeze and the air was fresh from the rain not long gone, Mason decided that today, they would climb a mountain.

When he'd been Kia's age, Mason's father had done the same with him. He'd climbed with him all the way to the mountain's top where you could see the whole city, right out to the ocean. And so he set out to do the same with Kia.


"No Dad!" She complained when Mason told Kia his plan. "I don't want to climb a mountain. Not now, not today, not ever!" Being quite tall, Mason had to kneel before he was at Kia's eye level. "Sweetie." He said, stroking her cheek. "Just give it a go. It will be worth it." He promised. "I suppose." Kia said reluctantly. "Well," Mason said, rising once again to his full height. Kia peered up at him as he continued to speak. "You don't know untill you try, do you?" "I guess not." She admitted.

So Kia and Mason climbed the mountain. When they reached the top, Mason knelt beside his daughter once again. This time, so that he'd be around her height. Mason pointed to an island far in the distance, over a vast patch of sea. "See that island there?" He asked. Kia squinted hard before answering. "Kind of." "That's our island." He told his daughter. Because that island had been in his family for years, and now it was he who owned it. "Really?" Kia gasped, looking skeptically at her father. "Yes." Mason grinned at his daughter who had the beginnings of a smile on her lips. "We can go there any time you like." He promised. "Even now?" Kia asked, excited suddenly. "Well maybe not today." Mason admitted. "But soon."

As Kia and Mason were coming back down the mountain, Mason looked at Kia, a big grin still on her face. "See?" He asked, grinning back at her. "You don't know until you try."

Pure Imagination

"What do you see Lucy?" Asked Rosalie. She and Charlotte leaned forward eagerly in anticipation of Lucy's answer. Lucy squeezed her eyes and concentrated. Hard. "I see a lake. Its shaded. There are lots of trees surrounding it and its lined with rocks. Kind of like a protective little fence. Its a little twisty, but at the end theres a pretty little bridge." Charlotte and Rosale looked at each other, smiling. She was doing it. Using her best abilities to her advantage.

The only thing was, Charlotte and Rosalie weren't there. Not really. No, Charlotte and Rosalie didn't exist. Only to Lucy. They were figments of her imagination. Though she was only 9, she was lonely and so she'd conjured Charlotte and Rosalie from her wondeful imagination and it was they who had become her friends. Despite being only figments of Lucy's imagination, Charlotte and Rosalie were very much their own people. They were unique in their own way.

Charlotte was a very serious, sophistaced girl who was determined, strong minded and was known to have a fiery temper on occassion. Her hair was a rich, deep milk chocolate brown and her eyes a piercing but demanding emerald green.

Rosalie on the other hand was very much a dreamy girly girl who loved pink. She was bubbly, loyal, encouraging and supportive. Her hair was an angelic, rich, yet natural blonde colour and her eyes a soft, shimmering sky blue.

Throughout their time together, both Charlotte and Rosalie had been encouraging Lucy to use the brilliant gift she had in her wonderful imagination. Charlotte practical as always saw it is a convinient, peaceful way to centre oneself and remain calm in difficult situations while Rosalie saw it as a reliable, luxurious means of escape from reality.

As time wore on however, Lucy grew up and matured and so Charlotte and Rosalie faded from existence, though the memories always remained. She remembered them and though they were mere figments of her imagination, Lucy often used the wise advice Charlotte had given her or looked back on the kind words Rosalie had said in times of need.

Later in life, Lucy became an author and, Charlotte and Rosalie served as inspiration for Lucy's most sucessful work. A series written on what their lives could have been like had they been real, living people and on the friendship they'd provided her with and the kinds of people Rosalie and Charlotte had been.

'This may seem a little strange,' Lucy wrote in the acknowledgments section of the first book in the Rosalie Charlotte Chronicles, 'but there are two people without whom this series would not have been possible. Charlotte and Rosalie were my imaginary friends during my childhood and they served as the principal inspiration for these chronicles.' "Because sometimes," Lucy said the words as she typed them on the page, "It is pure imagination which helps us through life's most difficult situations."

Dream Escape

Dreams were funny things. Some said, like in Cinderella, that dreams were a wish your heart makes, your deepest desires, others that they were just weird, random things your brain strung together as you slept. People may have thought that dreams were reflections of our past and some hopes for our future. Whatever your opinion, dreams are somewhat magical. Like a story, in a dream, anything can happen.

Maya Sinclair's opinion of dreams fell into categories one and four. Maya believed dreams were both a wish of the heart and a hope for one's future. Not only were dreams these things for Maya but also an escape. An escape from reality. From reality's tough nature and trying times.

Maya always slept the most soundly when she dreamt, and this day, her dream was something she could not stop thinking of. The whole day it plagued her mind. In the dream, she had been with her mother, who had died when Maya was 3 in a car accident. In this dream, Maya was the same age as she was in the present day, 15. Though her mother hadn't aged a day. She was just the way she'd been when Maya was 3. She was hust the way Maya remembered her. They'd been on a deck somewhere overlooking a beautiful rainforest. There was an outdoor dining set on the deck, white in colour. This was where Maya and her beautiful mother had sat, simply talking. Talking as if her mother had merely gone away for 9 years and had now returned. Maya was filling her in on the events that had occured in her abscence.

At the end of the dream, Maya's mother told her that although she could bno longer be with her, she could be with her in a different way.

Free

Viveca Lucas, now 89 years old was the last surviving member of her family. She knew her time was nearly up. She'd battled long enough. Cancer, not that anyone said it was, was not a fun experience. Some survived, but Viveca was sure she would not be one of them. But that was ok. She'd lived a full and long life. A life in which she'd had a family, been a wife, been a mother, and had even been a grandmother. Now though, time was getting short.

Viveca had been in hospital many months now, and as she stared out the window at the world beyond, she looked back on her life. She'd had a happy, long full life. That was all she could have asked. She gazed at an old picture of herself from around the time she'd graduated university. 'Yes,' she thought, 'I'm happy. I've led a good life and I'm ready now, whenever the Good Lord wants to take me, I am happy to go.'

On the other hand, Viveca's youngest grand daughter Hannah was sad to see her go, she realised that her grandmother had been in pain and she had been happy to go. As she set a lotus down a calm stream of water in memory of Viveca shortly after her funeral, she remembered that like the gently flowing water, her grandma was now free. Free of pain and sadness. Of anger and regret. Free.

Clearer Skies Ahead

Miranda Collier was the single mother of a single child. A 16 year old daughter, Hazel. Miranda and Hazel looked very alike but of course, as every person does, had their differences about them. Miranda for instance, being older, was taller standing at 5 foot 8 inches tall while Hazel, who stood at 5 foot, wore glasses with violet frames that covered her plain grey-blue coloured eyes. What both mother and daughter did have in common was their soft, wavy light brown hair.

Hazel wasn't all that you'd expect though. Hazel had a physical condition called Cerebral Palsy, a condition caused by brain damage that affected your muscles. Cerebral palsy come in varying degrees and Hazel was rather mild compared to some of them. In fact, Hazel wasn't even immediately noticable at all. But if you walked really closely behind her, you'd notice a slight limp in her walk and it wasn't visible, but she also had learning difficulties. Because of these learning difficulties, Hazel got aide time at school, and while this was a real benefit to how she did accademic, it was unfortunately, a real detriment to her social life. Because she was different, so clearly pointed out by the fact she had an aide, others exiled her.

So when Miranda discovered a mentoring group for teenagers around Hazel's age through a Cerebral Palsy support organisation that she and Hazel were involved in, Miranda immediately signed her daughter up. Like everyone was at something new, Hazel was a little nervous and unsure at first, but as time went by and the program progressed, Hazel grew to love each session and would look forward eagerly to everyone. Over its 6 month course, mentoring became a huge part of Hazel's life. Not only had Hazel gained an older friend and mentor in the young woman, Kate, with whom she was partnered but a whole new set of friends her own age.

Also as the program progressed, Miranda noticed exceedingly positive changes in her daughter. Her self esteem grew little by little and her confidence soared. At the program's conclusion, although upsetting for Hazel due to how much of a huge part of her life mentoring had become, Miranda was sure that Hazel was happier.

Miranda watched from the local sailing club's function room as Hazel talked and laughed with her large group of new found friends on the private balcony and at this sight, Miranda was sure there would be clearer skies ahead.

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For all the wonderful people- both mentors and the fellow mentees from my mentoring experience. Thanks for all the laughs and the fun. Thanks for such a blast! Friends for life.

Absorbed by the Bush

The Perry’s had 3 children, all daughters; Alexandra, Eliza and Paige. Alexandra was the girly girl of the group, Paige the studious book worm who excelled in academics at school. But Eliza was the most adventurous of them all. Eliza would go exploring every chance she got, on family outings, holidays, at new places she visited, even at school! Although this sometimes annoyed her family, she did it anyway. The only one who joined in her enjoyment was her dad. Eliza’s parents believed in bonding time and so that’s usual what Eliza and her father’s ‘father daughter bonding time’ entailed.
For a combined 18th birthday and graduation of high school present, Eliza’s parents paid for her to go on a two week adventure holiday to Glenrock Lagoon in Newcastle. Eliza had also taken two of her friends along, Jonathan and Samantha, or Sam for short. One day Eliza wanted to go for a bushwalk while her two friends opted for a trip to the beach instead.
So Eliza set out for the famous Glenrock Lagoon Bushwalk on her own. The 1.5km bushwalk was said to talk around two hours but it took Eliza a lot longer, for she stopped to linger and look at the beauty of nature and the natural sights that surrounded her. It took her about 2 hours there and another 2 hours back, almost doubling the original estimated completion time. Eliza didn’t care though.
On her way back, Eliza got lost, having veered off the outlined route as she often did to explore. She'd been absorbed by the beauty of the bush. It had taken her a while to discover she'd actually veered off the path at all. Having forgotten to take her mobile phone with her, Eliza was lost. Sam and Jonathan didn’t know there was trouble. She’d never told them how long she’d be, she hadn’t known herself.

Finally, after what must have been two hours but felt like a lot longer to Eliza, a kindly stranger found her, luckily he was a local and led her back to the proper path. “There you go love.” He’d said before going on his way again.

That day, Eliza learnt a valuable lesson. Always take a means of contact with you and always give someone a rough estimate of how long you should be.

Shades

Sienna Blythe seemed to be just as normal as everyone else. She had four limbs, two eyes, two ears, one nose and one mouth just like everyone else. Underneath the surface however, lay something more. Sienna in fact had aspergers, a genetic condition that meant she had a little more trouble socially then others normally would.

Thankfully, Sienna had been diagnosed at a young age and her parents were therfore able to start teaching her the things she wouldn't learn on her own from a young age. That meant now, at age 15, Sienna seemed no different to any other person her age.

Aspergers was called a 'disability'. It was labelled as such. It wasn't really a disability though. More a different way of thinking. A different way of looking at the world and in some cases, a different way of doing things. You could say it was like everyone was one shade of a colour, lets say blue, and Sienna was a slightly different shade, so slight that you could hardly tell that Sienna's shade was even different at all.

Although Aspergers had disadvantages, it also had plenty of advantages. For instance, people who had aspergers were often very smart, often in a select few fields with which they were obsessesed and they also often went on to become rather sucesful in their chosen careers and in life.

Sienna wanted to become a phsycologist after finishing high school in the hopes that she could help other people just like her and not that she liked to admit it, but she was well on her way to getting there.

New vs. Old

As Jarna had grown up, her life had been a mix of pen and paper and the computer. Now however, technology was advancing and almost everything was starting to be taken over by it. Although Jarna was young, she quite prefered the old fashioned ways of pen to paper and face to face interaction as apposed to the ways of communication modern technology offered. Jarna thought it was a lot better to see someone or write to them rather than use technology. Because, it seemed, technological communication was much easier to misinterpret.

One day, Jarna decided to see what others thought. For quite a time now, she'd had a youtube under a nickname that friends had called her with one deliberate spelling mistake so that her name had a certain ring to it- Kreative Kitten. She'd also added 2302 onto it to make it a little special. That was her birthday, the 23rd of February. This made her username KreativeKitten2302.

Jarna uploaded a video explaining what she'd been thinking about and at the end, asking the question that had been on her mind for days, even weeks now. Her video got an overwhelming response from viewers and had an overflow of opinions. After looking at each one, Jarna discovered that the answers she'd received were in fact 50/50, half of them supported paper and pen and the other half were supportive of technology. Yet, Jarna couldn't decide which she liked best. She liked them both equally. Both methods had their pros and their cons.

So, the question still remains, which method of communication is best? Jarna decided that they were both equal, but she still liked hearing the public's opinion. What do you think? Which is better? Old or new?

Wealthy Proposal

Alicia and Brian has been seeing each other, dating for 3 years now. Coming from a poor family, Alicia marvelled at all the money Brian had sitting at his disposal. The money which he took for granted. See unlike Alicia, Brian had grown up in a wealthy family and for him, money had never been an issue because there was never a shortage of it.

Since meeting Alicia however, Brian had changed. Early on, Alicia had taken him to visit the poor villiage where she had grown up and many of the dates consisted of volunteering in homeless shelters and soup kitchens, where almost nobody had any money at all. After seeing all these things, Brian realised that money was in a way, a privellage. Well, the quantity of it you posessed was a privellage. With this new found knowledge, Brian changed his ways, giving much of his wealth to those in need, to those who could put it, in his words, "to much better use then he ever could have".

So two years later, on their fifth anniversary, Alicia came home to the apartment where she and Brian lived together only to find it empty. She turned on a light and sitting there in the middle of the spacious living area were the words 'marry me Alicia?' spelled out of not rose petals, but money. Alicia giggled and at that moment, Brian appeared, walking toward her. "Well Alicia," He asked, dropping to one knee in front of her. "Will you marry me?" "You spelt it in money!" Alicia gasped in reply. "Huh?" Brian asked, stunned. "Oh, yes. A tribute to the person I was before I met the most wonderful girl in the world and she changed me for the better." He explained. "The moment this is over, all this is going to the homeless shelter downtown." He added hastily, gesturing at the cash. "Yes." Alicia said after a long moment's silence. "Yes?" Again, Brian was confused. "Yes I'll marry you silly!" She said happily, excited. He slipped the golden ring on her finger before Alicia spoke again. "Mr Money Man." She added playfully, slapping the back of his leg.

China

"I'm not due for another 3 weeks!" Gracie complained when her labour began. "I know, but the baby doesn't does it?" Hee husband asked, helping Gracie off the couch. "Come on, we've got to get you to the hospital." Gracie's husband Barney ran frantically around their house, stuffing items into a rather large green bag before hurrying out the door, Gracie on his arm.

Hours later, Gracie had a little girl. But she'd hardly even got a glimpse of her little girl before she was whisked away. "Barney, what happened to her?" Gracie sobed. "I didn't even get to see her!" "It's ok, Gracie. I'll fix it." Barney soothed, stroking her hand. He stood up and approached a nurse. "Excuse me" he said, only a slight hint of anger in his tone. "What happened to our daughter? We haven't seen her." "I'll find out right now for you Sir, if you'd just like to stay with your wife, we'll come and let you know." She promised, busting away.

As it turned out, Gracie and Barney's daughter had had complications and they'd had to give her immediate treatment. Late that night, she was at last placed gently in Gracie's eagerly waiting arms. "China." She said. "China?" "For her name." Gracie explained. "Fragile, and precious." "China." Barney repeated, looking lovingly down at the little baby Gracie held in her arms.

All We Have

Ingrid and Malcom Emery were young and had been married a considerable ten years. So you wouldn't have expected what they'd both been through at all. They lived a quiet life in a small cottage, content with each other's company and happy with their simple quiet lifestyle. When they'd been married in their mid twenties, both Malcom and Ingrid's parents were alive but now, all were gone along with Ingrids three brothers and Malcom's two sisters. They were alone now, with each other.

One evening, Ingrid sat at their small dining table contemplating their deaths of both their families. Malcom came in and seeing his wife was upset approached her, placing his hands gently on her shoulders. Ingrid looked up at him. He saw the same beauty he'd seen when he'd first met her fifteen years earlier. The only difference between that Ingrid then and the Ingrid he saw looking up at him now was that this Ingrid was slightly red round the eyes. Ingrid had sandy blonde hair, part of which was held by a clip at the back of her head. Her pale green eyes glittered with the aftermath of her tears and her soft pink lips smiled up at Malcom. "What's the matter Ingrid?" Malcom asked, concerned. "You never cry. Ever." "I know, I'm sorry." Ingrid smiled at him. "Don't apologise Love. Just tell me what's wriong." "Well, I was just looking at our old family albums now, the ones that our parents left us." She began, gesturing toward two large books spread out on the dining table. "But then I realise it's just us now. We're all each other has. This is it. All we have." Ingrid said slowly, hastily wiping away the tears that were falling down her cheeks. "That's ok." Malcom soothed, massaging Ingrid's shoulders. "At least we've got each other. We may be all we have but, we're in it together. Right till the end."

This had a hint of truth in it, for many many years later after having a few kids and a long happy life and marriage, Ingrid and Malcom were not a centimetre away from one another when the time came for them to die. They were truly in it together, right through till the end.

Do You Trust Me?

Candace and Angus lived in a place that had been torn apart by war. A richer villiage had invaded and of course, Candace and Angus's villiage, Rucksar fought back. They won the fight eventually and the richer villiage retreated back to their own lands.

During the wartime, you could never trust anyone. Not one person was your friend, not even your family. You were on your own and the only time you could really be sure was if someone extended a bold gesture towards you, in some cases, putting your life before their own. This was the case with Candace and Angus.

Angus and Candace had grown up together and had been friends all throughout their childhood. But when Rucksar was attacked when the pair were in their mid teenage years, they were no longer sure that the other was on their side.

One day, both Angus and Candace were fleeing from the enemy when they reached a dead end. Candace did her best to find a good place to hide until the attackers passed through. Little did she know, Angus was close by, frantically searching for an escape. He spotted Candace hidden in a dense bush but didn't acknowledge her presence until he came across a rickety wooden bridge. "Candace!" He called to her quickly, urgently. "Angus?" Candace answered uncertainly. Angus saw her brown front fringe and slowly the rest of her rise from the bushes. "Come, we must hurry! They are nearing us!" Angus outstretched his arm, his eyes looking wildly at Candace. She took his hand and climbed up out of the bushes to stand next to him. "We haven't much time!" Angus urged. Angus slowly, carefully, cutiosly made his way across the wooden bridge, knowing that if he fell, it would be a long, long drop. "Candace come on!" He yelled at his friend. "We don't have time to way up the pro's and con's!" "Are you sure it's safe?" Candace asked nervously. "Do you trust me?" Angus asked simply. The word trust and what it meant ran through Candace's mind as she contemplated his question. "Do I trust you?" She repeated at last. "Do you trust me?" Angus said again, more urgently, thrusting his arm towards her. The bridge swayed a little and Candace, scared held her breath. Candace could hear a collection of booming footsteps. The attackers were getting even closer now. "Yes." She said nervously, slipping her hand into Angus's. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and pulled her acrss the bridge toward the other side where he stood. As Candace jumped from the bridge to safe ground on the other side, the bridge felll through and descended rapidly down into nothingness. They heard yelling and looking up, saw that the attackers had reached the other side. Angus and Candace stood bent over double panting with exhaustion, relieved in the knowledge that they'd safely escaped the enemy.

Exactly How I Feel

There were many things happening in Ella's life right now. But the thing playing on her mind the most were thoughts. Thoughts about a boy. Cooper was his name and they were in the same year at the same school. Unfortunately though, they had not 1 class together.

As Ella cleaned the house, lher iPod playing her favourite tunes through shuffle, a song came on that exactly mirrored what she was thinking and feeling at that point in time. The song, a song by one of her favourite country singers, drew her thoughts even further to Cooper. His soft pink lipped smile, green eyes and fly away black hair. She stopped in her tracks, staring up in to space a moment, staring into nothingness as she focused solely on the song. The song was talking about love and how love can change your decisions and your perceptions.

Ella felt a small tear trickle down her cheek as she realisaed the realities. Cooper and Ella mixed in different social circles, they had different friends, different spots they typically were in breaks and different groups of people. Yet still, Ella longed for him and wished the realities were somehow, somewhat different. Cooper however, was oblivious to all of this. That very fact, somehow broke Ella's heart a little.

Hidden in the Bushes

Maya George was walking home from work one day when she walked passed some bushes. As she passed them, she thought she heard a rustle. She turned back and looked to see a head pop up. Well, part of a head at least. Freaked out, Maya began to walk faster, keen to get home all of a sudden.

"Maya! Wait please!" Called a voice. Maya turned around, realising that the person she'd seen behind the bushes seem to know her, assuming it was the person behind the bushes. When she turned around she saw none other than Kyle Turner, the boy that had been her best friend throughout her childhood. Maya had lost touch with Kyle when they both graduated high school. It had been a whole 5 years since then.

"Kyle?" She asked, not believing it was really him. "It's me Maya." He confirmed. She looked him up and down. He looked smart but a little ruggered from hiding behind the bush all this time. He wore a dark blue, white and black checked long sheeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up part way so it looked like a three quarter sleeve and denim jeans with sneakers the same colour as the blue of his shirt. His dusty brown hair was wild yet tame as he had fringe that went diagonally across the left side of his face,just touching his eye. "Kyle!" Maya was excited to see her friend again. "This is amazing!" "I know. I never thought I'd see you again yet here you are." "What were you doing in the bushes?" "I fell." Maya laughed. Both friends agreed to catch up sometime soon, a planned encounter this time and exchanged details before going their seperate ways once again.

Unknown to Maya, Kyle took one last look it her before he walked on again. He looked at Maya, thinking how beautiful she was, how much he'd missed her and it was that moment that he realised he loved her. Really, he had all along. She looked elegant yet classy in her work clothes. She had on a pearl white blouse with buttons lining the middle. The blouse was tucked into a plain black, straight skirt. Beneath that her legs were covered by black stockings and she had on a pair of low heeled black shoes. Her dusty brown hair, the same colour as his own was up in a tight bun in the centre of the back of her head and her small dangly pearls looked radiant in the glow of the late afternoon sun.

That chance encounter had been 20 years ago and now Kyle and Maya told their children the story of the time they'd been reunited by chance. As they say, the rest is history.

Hearts of Gold

Mothers are the people who love us, care for us and support us. For some, they are the person who carried us within themselves for 9 months, for others they are the ones who took us in when others could not. They are the ones who put us before themselves from the day we were born for the rest of our lives, and most importantly, they are the ones who one day a year, in the middle of the month of May, were supposed to be pampered, spoilt and put first. For one day out of a massive 365, 366 on leap years. But Dianne Anderson had other ideas....

See, Dianne was a rebel and eversince she hit her teen years, she had assumed a new meaning to the phrase 'Mother's Day'. She now believed that it was the one day her poor mother, Susan had to wait on her hand and foot. Susan however, was unfortunately too weak to stand up to her daughter's ridiculous demands and so for one day a year Susan became her daughter's slave.

But that all changed when Dianne was 14. At that time, Susan became pregnant with another daughter. On November 14th 1998, little Georgia Anderson was born into the world. Unlike her older sister, Georgia was a wonderful child. Georgia loved Susan the same way Dianne did somewhere deep inside her, but unlike Dianne, Georgia spoiled her mum on mother's day each and every year. One year, when she was 8, Georgia drew her mother this set of hearts, telling her. 'these hearts are made of gold and they mean my love for you will never ever stop.'
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for all the mothers out there, happy mothers day & to my own mother. You are the best mother of all.

Beth & Missy



There was once a girl who was outcast at school. The next year, Beth would be starting year 7 at high school. So when she got her beautiful dog Missy in the christmas holidays before she started, her life changed forever.

Now, Beth may not have had friends at school. But unlike primary, Amy didn't care in the slightest. Because she had Missy. Missy was her best friend and the best dog she'd ever had. Beth told her everything and the great thing was, Missy couldn't tell anyone else.

As they both grew, they never ever stopped being best friends. To this day, they still are.

The Road of Life

Many people have questions. Questions where they have no idea of the answer, some where the answer can be found, but is hard to obtain. As you age, as you grow and gain more experience, you grow wiser, you get to know more and you slowly develop into your own person. Unique and unlike anyone else on this earth. We are all, essentially in the same boat. We are all trying to figure life out, we are all walking the same road.

Life is a road, with bumps and bruises, twists and turns, ups and downs all the way along. And as you get further, you become more experienced, more knowledgable. You have more tools to overcome the obstacles life throws your way and you bounce back up, more resiliant than the last time you fell. More able, more experienced.

We all struggle, and although we all travel the same road, the Road of Life if you like, each person's road is different, just like them. We'll all have twists and bends in our roads, we'll all have ups and downs, we all have bumps and bruises. But for every person, their location differs.

Life is a road. A road that takes us on a journey. A journey with ups and downs, twists and turns. A journey that allows us to meet people, who ultimately, make a difference in our lives and change us in some way and a journey of self discovery. Discovery of what we want to do in the future, who we are, and who we want to become.

Life may deal you some rocky patches, but always remember there are people around waiting to help you. To support you and comfort you, to talk you through life's struggles, hold you tight and if they have to, dig you out of a hole and help to get back on your feet. 

Easterville

In our world, April marks Easter. It marks chocolate overloads and if you're religious, it marks the days that Jesus died and rose again. But for the citizens of Easterville, it marked a fight. A fight to stay alive.

See, the citizens of Easterville were bunnies. They were safe in their little realm up until easter when the best were selected and sent into our world, to be eaten by us. Few returned alive. You were lucky if you did, but you had to have good survival skills in order to keep yourself alive. But for every bunny lost, a new bunny was found. See these bunnies were like cats, they had many, many, many lives. It was like in a video game, you die, you bounce right back up again.

Many small children are fooled into thinking the Easter Bunny is sweet. But not to the Eastervillians. See he is the one that sends them out to be eaten. The evil ruler who is only evil around that easter time.

Next time you see  an easter bunny, or the big one himself, watch carefully and be sure to stay very quiet and very still. For when easter bunnies think no one is looking, they come alive!

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Happy easter everyone. Sorry I'm a little late.

Lucky Clover

Alana had never been lucky in love. But one day, on the 17th of March, St. Patrick's Day, Alana met the man of her dreams.

Declan Flynn was also looking for love and when he spotted Alana on the hill that day, he knew he'd found the one. He had to pinch himself just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. But it was all real. There she was. Long, flowing auburn coloured hair blowing in the light autumn breeze. Her long pale green dress danced in the stand as she stood still, staring out at the world beyond.

He started to approach her, and just as he bent down to pick up a 4 leaf clover he'd spotted, she did the same. They both looked up at one another. "Hi." He managed to get out. "Hi. Look you have it. I'm sure there are plenty of others here." She said kindly. Her voice sounded angelic, like tinkling bells in a light breeze. "No. Its yours. I've got plenty already." Declan objected. "How gentlemanly of you." Alana commented. Declan stood up and bowed slightly. "How about a coffee? I know a great cafe right near here." Declan suggested. He didn't want to let this girl go without her number and her name at least. If he was lucky maybe a second date.

5 years later, Declan stood at the end of a long white carpet, awaiting Alana's arrival. Finally he spotted her. She looked just as beautiful as she had the first time he'd seen her and the clover they'd both found was set right in the middle of her bridal bouquet. Just 15 minutes on, they were sealing their love with a kiss as they were pronounced man and wife. All thanks to the luck of the four life clover they had found on the luckiest day of the year, St. Patrick's Day.

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Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone. Hope you had a good one.

Not To Be

Stella was the most popular girl at her high school. She set the standards and ruled the place. For her to fall in love with one of the supposed 'loser' crowd was unthinkable. So when it actually happened, Stella and her new beau, Clint had the whole school talking.

After Stella realised that her good reputation and popularity within the school were rapidly deteriorating, she gave Clint an ultimateum. They could be together in secret or not at all. To Stella's great suprise, Clint elected to not be together at all. "I thought you loved me Stella. Being together in secret isn't really love. If you can't stand to be seen with me in public, you can't stand to be seen with me at all." Having said that, he walked away leaving Stella standing in his wake, stunned.

Clint had been right. If you're embarassed to be seen with someone in public, you don't deserve to be seen with them at all. Clint walked away not one bit upset. He thought she had loved him. But seeing that wasn't the case, he didn't feel the need to worry about Stella anymore. He'd find someone else. Someone better. Someone who loved Clint for who he was, faults and flaws included. He knew that day would come, as it does for everyone. He'd just have to wait, and Clint knew that good things come to those who wait. Patience is the key to finding love. If you wait patiently, the right person will come.

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Happy valentines Day everyone.

Flamingo Lake

It was late at night one school holidays and little Cindy couldn't get to sleep. So her mother told her a story. The same story that she told Cindy every time she couldn't sleep and the same story that had been told to her as a little girl.

There was once a little flock of wild flamingoes. They lived peacefully in a large lake. Humans hadn't been there in years. The only sign left of humans was a fence up against a rock wall plaited with lavender flowers. Although the lavenders were long dead, it looked sweet all the same.

But one day hunters invaded the flamingoes sanctuary. They came in and tried to kill the flamingoes. Luckily, there was one tiny little one that managed to slip away. "This bit always makes me sad Mummy." Cindy said, little tears prickling in her eyes. "I know sweetie. But it turns out all good in the end right?" To that Cindy simply nodded. Her mother waited a moment to see if Cindy was going to say anything more. But, she stayed quiet so Cindy's mother

That little flamingo went wandering until she found another flamingo. He had been hiding under a tall willow tree. He'd escaped from another flock of flamingoes that had been attacked by hunters. So the little flamingo lead him back to her lake and there they stayed, never bothered by humans again. As time went on, they had their own kids and made their own little flock.

As Cindy's mother finished the story, she noticed that Cindy had fallen fast asleep. "It always works like a charm." She whispered to herself as she crept quietly out of the room.

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For my best friend Elizabeth on her birthday. Happy birthday Elizabeth!

Two Rivers

There was once a lake. A lake that had a tiny little island in the middle of it. On either side of that llittle island was two narrow rivers. Those rivers lead to two completely different cities. See, there is a legend that says the two islands were once combined but slowly drifted apart as their rulers did many years ago. Two brothers of a wealthy family both wanted to rule the one big land. In an attempt to settle the dispute, their dying father divided that land into two parts so one brother could rule each. Unfortunately, that didn't stop the dispute between the two brothers. In fact, their brotherly row soon escalated into a feud. And the theory of some is that as the feud grew deeper, the more the two lands that the two brothers ruled drifted further apart.

Once a year, the citizens of the two lands travelled via ferries to the middle island that seperated the two little rivers and their respective cities. It was there that the two communities would gather for their annual River Island Festival. It lasted four days, the last two days of the year and the first two days of the new year. It was during that festival that the children would be told the legend of the two cities at night, like a bedtime story.

Unlike in the legend, the two cities were now close and they quite often worked together. Acceptance of people from the other city was encouraged as was unity and welcoming of town newcomers.

Dale

There was once a lonely woman named Kerrie. Now Kerrie had no family, they'd all died or moved away. Either way in the small town where she lived, Kerrie had no one. That made christmas a rather lonely time. So that was why come the festive season, a special friend of Kerrie's. She had invented for herself a fake husband. Dale was absent all of the time but come christmas and birthdays there would be a special package at the front door adressed to Kerrie from Dale.

The truth was that Kerrie had a secret about Dale. Dale was imaginary and in reality Kerrie was the one who got the presents from 'Dale'. Then she wrapped them up and purposefully forgot about the contents inside. That was until the night before the special occassion when she retrieved the present from its hiding place and set it inside on the front doorstep.

The next day she'd open it up and be really happy and suprised. Even though she knew full well what the present was, she still loved opening it up and using the present come morning.

Although Kerrie kept Dale a secret from the outside world, they looked in and eventually every single woman in town had a fake husband and every man a fake wife. Everyone loved presents so any excuse would do to get an extra one.

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I hope everyone had a merry christmas and a happy new year. Good luck with whatever lies ahead for you in 2012.