Thank you, everyone, for reading along and for your kind comments about Sam and Lucy. Here's the third and final installment in their little vignette. Can't wait to hear what you all think.
If anyone is interested, here's a link to Part 1 and Part 2.
Find Part 3 here!
Hey everyone, I'm back with another Wednesday chapter! After last week's shorter one, this is a long one, hopefully not too long; Ben and Liv get to know each other better, and we get to meet Livia's family. I hope the last part is not too boring. Please, let me know what you think!
Here's Onde Anda Você's Chapter Four
And the music is this reggae/rock one that I find really fun, Onze:20's Meu Lugar, hope you like it too!
Can be found here. I'm so glad you like the story, it is motivating me to finish it like nothing else! That being said, I need some time, so future updates will be every other week from now on while I work on more chapters for you!
As always, your comments are life. Thank you so much <3
Also, here is the Table of Contents, in case you missed something.
Thank you all so much for your kind words last week about this story! Hope you enjoy the second part. It's short because there wasn't a good place to stop (otherwise it would have been LONG) and there wouldn't have been a third part.
I'll admit, this story probably isn't the most devvy thing, but hope y'all like the characters/arcs anyway! :)
Thanks everyone for the comments last chapter! This will be a relatively short one, compared to the past couple chapters haha. Hope you like it. Also, thank you Izabely for reaching me and helping out with some ideas and details for the story! And anyone can reach me out on my email caterin.alighieri@gmail.com with tips, questions, suggestions... ;)
So finally, here's Chapter Three
Oh, and the music recommendation this week will move a bit from the bossa-nova spectrum and enter a brazilian 80s rock: Legião Urbana's Tempo Perdido Let me know what you think. See you next week for some more Ben & Livia!
The link is here. Trigger warning for some fairly graphic violence in this chapter.
As always, thank yo so much for reading and double for the comments, you guys are so wonderful and helpful. I am honored by your feedback. <3 <3 <3
Edit: I've been informed that people like a Table of Contents, so here ya go! I will link it in further posts, as is tradition. :P
This is a story from Selina based on the writing prompt:
Bear. That had been his nickname as long as he could
remember. As a kid, it was because of his size. In high school, the monster
blocks he made as a defensive end on the football field. In college it was a
running joke because of his enormous appetite. Now — well, everyone knows that
you should stay away from bears. They have a tendency to attack.
“Ben,” Alyssa turned, her auburn hair twirling with her. “Do you still want the
phantom berry?”
Bear gripped his wheels and tried to focus on anything but the unintentional
cleavage that was right in his face. He instead kept his eyes on the girl
hooked over Alyssa's hip. Lily. She had Alyssa's pale blue eyes and jet
hair, black like the grave he planned to put Chad in after the shit he
pulled on his now ex-wife and daughter.
“Yoo-hoo.” Alyssa waved her hand in front of his face. “Ben Bearkley? Benny
bear? You there?
He shook his head – the grizzly brown hair flipped into his eyes. He really needed to stop putting it off and
get a haircut. “Sorry, zoned out for a minute. And yeah, phantom berry.”
“Extra large, waffle cone, and jimmies in the bottom and on top.” Alyssa said
with him in unison, grinning. She knew him too well. And that grin could
undo him.
It was that grin that had him stripping her under the bleachers when they were
16. Those dimples that brought him to his knees to languish in her taste at 19.
And that goddamn flash in those bright blue eyes that kept him going after the
accident that changed everything.
He focused again on Lily. Three years old and still sucking her thumb. She
clung so tightly to Alyssa, he worried that she might be a permanent growth.
Weren't toddlers supposed to be more independent at this age?
Alyssa put her daughter down and whispered in her ear. Alyssa looked at Bear as
she did, a knowing look on her face as Lily stepped over to his wheelchair.
“Ben bear. Up.” Lily held out her hands.
Without thinking, he lifted the girl under her armpits and placed her on his lap. He had spent time with Lily before, but she had never asked to sit on his lap. Lily looked up at him with a huge white grin and wrapped her arms around him. He inhaled and used his hands to adjust the foot that shifted when she wiggled.
He looked to Alyssa who only smirked.
“I'm not a goddamn stroller,” he mouthed to her over Lily's head.
Alyssa shrugged and turned to the clerk to order their ice
cream. Ice cream. Why had he thought getting ice cream with his ex and her kid
was a good idea? Especially now that
things were officially, legally, and completely over between her and Chad.
But... It was Alyssa. And Alyssa was so much more than just an ex.
“Ben bear,” Lily poked his broad chest. “Why do you like to sit down so much?”
This sort of question might have bugged him a few years ago, but coming from Lily it wasn't so bad. He waited a breath and saw Alyssa bite her lip as she waited for his response.
“My legs don't work like yours do anymore, so I get to use this cool chair. Want to see a trick?”
She nodded and he told her to hold on. In a smooth movement,
he turned, popped a wheelie and went over the curb. He sped over to a bench,
popped a wheelie again, and did a 360° spin.
Lily clutched his neck and screeched with laughter until he came to a stop.
“Again, again!” She demanded.
He obliged as Alyssa moved to the pick-up line. He wheeled them over
to a picnic table, settling himself at the end and depositing Lily on the bench
next to him.
Ben couldn't take his eyes off Alyssa. Her teal blue top hugged all the right
places and skin peeked out across her midriff. Those inches brought him
back to a decade earlier. There were so many nights in the back of a pickup
truck, afternoons under the bleachers after practice, frenzied mornings in her
childhood treehouse, and the apple orchard.
Always the apple orchard. He looked down at his lap and adjusted. This
he could not get used to. With his spinal cord injury, his control over those
bodily functions could barely rival a 13-year-old boy discovering masturbation
with a lingerie catalog.
He was almost 30 years old. Granted, four years of no action could do that to
somebody. But getting a half-mast because of a peek or skin? But Lily pulled
him right out of that mind hole.
“Do you love my mommy Ben bear? Mommy loves you.” Lily was
observant. She had been watching Ben watch Alyssa.
He cleared his throat. “What makes you think your mom loves me?”
Lily got up from the bench and skipped around the table. She crouched down next
to him, examining the spokes of his wheels.
“She said so. To Auntie Cath. She said she never stopped loving you and
that she wished she had married you instead of daddy.”
His gut constricted. He wished that too.
After six years of dating through high school and college, they’d agreed
to a 6 month “break” to be sure settling down together was what they both
wanted. He knew it would have been, if
only Chad hadn’t gotten involved.
Chad Sutherly. He had been Ben's biggest rival and the ultimate douchebag. When Ben beat him out for captain of the high school football team, Chad swore he would get Ben back. Ben thought nothing of it. High school football- it wasn’t the end of the world. It wasn’t even the start.
But Chad had gotten his revenge. He had gotten Alyssa pregnant at what should have been a one-night stand. Then Ben had landed himself in a wheelchair. All over a stupid high school football captaincy.
But Alyssa had kept in touch. She had been the first person he saw when he woke up after the crash. Even though she was pregnant, she swore she would always be in his life. But Ben had pulled back and really lived up to his Bear nickname, especially after she had Lily. He couldn't face the constant living reminder of his failure with Alyssa.
“But Daddy is gone now. Aunt Cath said he is staying with his new skank on whore island. I don't know where that is." Lily picked a dandelion from the grass.
Ben had to swallow his gulp of surprise. Of course Cath would have said that about
Chad- Alyssa’s sister had always hated him.
He wondered if she had let Lily overhear that comment on purpose to
repeat back to Chad. It would be a very
Cath thing to do.
Lily picked a purple flowering clover and added it to the pile she amassed. “I wouldn't mind if you are my new Daddy. Especially if you love mommy.”
Ben tensed. What could he say? He didn’t need to bear his soul to a
toddler. But had Alyssa really said
those things? And did that mean that
Alyssa might want to talk about what the future might mean for them together? “Your
mom is a very special person to me.”
As Lily tied her flowers around his wheel spokes, his heart
lightened. Lily might be part Chad, but there was a lot more Alyssa in
her. He could see it in her eyes, her curiosity, and in her mischievous grin.
“Can we do another ride? I promise not to squish you.”
Ben laughed and held out a hand to help her to her feet. “Hop on squirt. You could never squish me.”
Lilly did, then paused. She wrapped her arms around him again and at him with a
solemn expression on her face. “I love you Ben bear. Just like Mommy.”
The words hit him. He looked up into the sun for a moment and clenched his jaw.
“You're pretty great too,” he finally managed to get out.
“And I know that Ben bear can be nice, no matter what grandma says about you.”
Ben burst out laughing imagining Alyssa's mother, Pat, saying just that. She
was never one to mince words.
He was surprised to hear Alyssa's voice behind them. She had come up with two
enormous ice cream cones and a small dish covered in sprinkles.
“I hope you aren’t having too much fun without me. Phantom berry for the Bear.” She handed over
a waffle cone at least 8 inches tall with black raspberry ice cream, cookie
fudge swirl, and a heaping portion of chocolate sprinkles. “And a unicorn
special for Princess Lily.”
Lily wiggled with anticipation as she leaned forward for her ice cream.
“Come sit next to me, Lil. We should give Ben some space so you aren't blocking
his ice cream.” Alyssa patted the bench next to her but Lily stayed put.
Ben shook his head. “She's
fine. Not blocking anything at all. Anything.” He held Alyssa’s gaze.
Alyssa raised an eyebrow skeptically. “I thought you weren't a-“ she cleared
her throat “GD stroller?”
Ben shrugged and took a large mouthful of his ice cream. “You know me, I'm just
a big teddy bear.”
I've had an unusual amount of free time to go back and work on some things I had squirrelled away, so that's exactly what I've been doing lately! Juniper's is an old story with characters I'm quite fond of; but, it is a bit introspective and, yes, a bit melancholy, which is probably why I picked it to heavily edit this last week. Hope you all still like it!
It's a three-part little story, and I'll post the next two parts on the next two Thursday's. Until then, here is part one.
Hey, everyone! I wanna thank everyone who took the time to comment last chapter. I was really motivated to keep writing and so so excited to share the story with you! Also, it's insane that I thought I was the one brazilian reading the blog all these years lol. So glad I could find y'all!
This one is a bit long, but I couldn't figure where I should stop haha
Here's Onde Anda Você's second chapter!
I hope you enjoy it, please let me know your thoughts! Also, here's yet another music recommendation, Cartola's O Mundo é um Moinho. I wrote this chapter listening to it on repeat; maybe I should make the story a spotify playlist lol
I just wanted to let you know that Such a Pretty Face is LIVE on Amazon today for purchase!
P.S. I would recommend anyone reading on the blog start over from the beginning, because there are several scenes I left out of what I posted here.
Is up and can be found here
**A trigger warning is in effect for this chapter as it contains a scene of sexual violence. The following chapter will also contain some violence of the non sexual variety, so please skip it if you don't feel that it will be good for you.
I mentioned last week we were going to try a monthly writing prompt. Basically, post a sentence and readers could post comments with 200-400 word "stories" inspired by the prompts. Here is this month's prompt:
I'm not a goddamn walker.
OR
I'm not a goddamn stroller.
Use whichever one inspires you more. There are NO RULES... use the prompt as your first line, within the story, or just as inspiration. Since the comments are wonky, we would recommend writing it in another editor first. If you have trouble posting, email it to me at razberripie@gmail.com and I'll take care of it for you. And if you go crazy and can't stay within the 400 word limit (I couldn't quite make it), we can post it as a separate entry.
My own attempt is under the jump break...
Hi, everyone!
I’m Catarina and I've been a lurker for yeeeearsss. This is my first time "publishing"/posting anything in english. I'm a native Portuguese speaker so please, let me know in the comments what's wrong so I can fix it! I'm a nut for grammar... In my own language lol Can't make any promises here but I can learn ;).
I'm excited about sharing this story—I wrote several chapters in portuguese first, sticking to what I know, and then abandoned it for a while because I didn't feel like I could post it anywhere. So I decided to rewrite everything in english and share it here. It's taking me a while, but I could have weekly chapters for ya. I'm just so excited about it!
At first I thought about kind of transfering the entire story to a more americanized setting so it'd feel more familiar to y'all, but I figured 1) I'd be writing about something I don't really know and 2) we all could use some traveling during these pandemic times... So the setting here is Brazil-São Paulo. Think of São Paulo City as NYC but bigger. I'll try to explain stuff without it being too in your face, maybe adding a couple footnotes. If you have any questions or suggestions or corrections, let me know! I could use the help. And please, leave me a comment with your thoughts.
So here's
Hope you enjoy it!!!
P.S. The title translates to Where have you been, but with a walking pun that doesn't really translate. It's also a Vinicius de Moraes song that's really worth checking out.
Thanks for the comments last week! In this update, Brody and Emily get closer with the help of his PCA...
can be found here.
You're all so great, thank you so much for your comments and support <3
Since it has been relatively quiet here, Devogirl and I were thinking it might be fun to do a writing prompt (like an idea or a first line) and have readers write a 100-400 word "story" based on the writing prompt to post in the comments. I was supposed to post the prompt last week, but I failed to do it because I honestly could not think of one that inspired me. I'm kind of low on inspiration lately.
So here's where I need your help:
Comment with a writing prompt. Either an idea or a first line or whatever. And I'll pick one of them to post next Thursday!
