Ok, I guess now might be a good time to explain this catastrophe to you guys. Ok, so in the beginning of the book, Kylas (the humanoid 'alien') and some of his Anarian rebel followers are fighting some androids. Phillip and his ship show up in time to help and the androids are destroyed. Phillip takes Kylas captive in order to inquire about the planet, but Kylas (who doesn't understand English) has to put on this comunication device that translates everything he says into English, and everything Phillip (or anyone else) says into Anarian. That little device is what causes all of this trouble.... Here is the scene where he first puts on the device.

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Suddenly, the metal door disappeared into the ceiling, and two men walked into the room: Phillip and Doctor Gildon. Kylas met them with a hard stare. While they were standing, and he still sitting on the cot, they were at least two feet taller than Kylas, but that didn’t make him feel intimidated.

Doctor Gildon approached the cot first, taking a few of his instruments out of his bag. He placed one around his neck and held the other in his hand. “The captain says you were hit in the ribs. Can I look at them?” the doctor asked, taking a slow step toward Kylas.

Kylas backed up on the cot. He couldn’t understand what the doctor wanted with him. Suddenly, he reached for his pocket and brought out two shiny pieces of equipment. One was small enough to put in his ear. The other was a curved piece, about as long as his pointer finger, which he placed on his neck to the left of his Adam’s apple.

_________________________________

Ok, so Kylas escapes the ship that night and heads across the desert. Phillip chases after him, but by the time he gets to him, it's too late to go back to the ship because of the Winds of Serian. Phillip and Kylas head to this huge cave where Kylas says will be safe. When they get there, and after the winds pass over them, this scene happens....

__________________________________

Without warning, Kylas felt something wrap around his foot, and a second later, he was under the water without a sound. Not hearing any splashing behind him, Phillip turned and saw that Kylas was missing.

His heart beat started to quicken. Without thinking twice about what he was doing, he reached for the knife at his side and dove under the water after Kylas. Though the current was strong, he was able to fight it long enough to reach something smooth. After a second of fear and reassurance, Phillip was sure that he had found Kylas’ arm. Quickly, he hauled him to the surface.

Kylas didn’t move, but whatever was holding him did, because in the next instant, Kylas’ body was back under the water and was moving rapidly down into the cave. Phillip lost his grip on his companion, but didn’t give up the chase. He pushed off of a nearby rock and swam his hardest to keep up with the monstrous threat.

As he swam, Phillip struck something with his foot. Immediately, a huge, slippery head rose up out of the water, its two long fangs ready to strike at a moment’s notice. At the same time, it heaved a limp body onto a rocky place with its long, split tail that looked a lot like the tail of a shark or whale, with a large fin on either side.

Phillip switched his gaze back up to the monster’s head. It was long, narrow, and pointed, with a jagged horn protruding from between its two evil-looking eyes.

Phillip readied himself for a strike, holding his knife steadily in his hand. He concentrated solely on the beast’s movements as it whirled around him, moving its head in a different direction than his tail to throw him off his guard.

When it finally stayed in one spot, it whipped its tail behind it and lashed out with a long, forked tongue. It caught Phillip by the arm and threw him back into the water, aiming for a large rock nearby. Then it let go and returned to its original position, hovering above its enemy.

Phillip got up, caught his breath, and returned to his poised position. He had always prided himself on the fact that he never got taken by the same trick twice. It would be no different now that he was fighting a cave serpent instead of a man.

Fairly soon, the creature whipped its tail around and snapped its head for another strike with its tongue. Only this time, when Phillip saw the tail move, he leaped to the side. When the tongue lashed out to grab him, he was at the side instead of in front. He took his knife in both hands and brought it down on the creature’s tongue, slicing the end of it off.

The creature drew its head back, enraged at having found a suitable foe. It lapped its bleeding tongue in the water a few times, turning the muddy water a deep red all around it.

Phillip took the tongue and heaved it aside. Though it was no bigger than his forearm, it would be a nuisance for the remainder of his battle, if there was any more. He hoped he was done.

But the serpent obviously wasn’t. It quickly regained its strength, lashing out with its fangs this time, trying to run Phillip through with one of them.

Phillip managed to stay out of the way of the first strike, ducking under water and swimming a short distance away. But he knew that it wouldn’t work a second time. He had to think quickly to stay alive. Looking around quickly for ideas, he suddenly spotted the huge rock that the serpent had tried to dash him against before. Hope rose inside of him as he moved behind the rock so that it was between him and the serpent.

With a hiss and a snap, the serpent stuck out, jaws opened wide to catch its prey. But it hit the rock full force instead of Phillip, who had ducked under water at just the right time. Its head swayed back and forth, anger in its eyes. It hissed again.

Phillip came up for air and realized that his plan had worked! He moved out from behind the rock to face his adversary. Shaken from its self-inflicted blow to the head, the serpent grew sluggish, and as he struck out with one last attack, Phillip slew it with a final stab to its neck.

With a raspy howl, the serpent fell to its death into the waters of the flooded caves. Adrenaline pumping wildly, Phillip drew his knife from the body and staggered back to the large rock that had been so prominent in the previous battle. 

It was just now that Phillip noticed that he was cold. The swirling water around him chilled his aching legs. Stiffly, he made his way through the water to where the serpent had unloaded the limp figure onto the rocks.

__________________________

That was the dreaded scene which can not be redone.... Now, do you think it's logical that after all that being dragged under swift-flowing water, not one of Kylas' communication/translation devices fell off? (not even the part that fit in his ear!)

You can see how this changes the next few scenes...  Without the little silver things, they can't talk to each other!!! So here's the original version vs. the new one.

_____________________________

Original -

Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just discovered an inconsistency in my Book Month story that means that I have to rerite the last entire 3000 words of my story before continuing!!!!!! This changes everything, and what's worse, I can't think of any way to avoid this catastrophe! The scene in which the inconsistency can't be easily rewritten, and I can't completely cut it because it's a major turning point in the lives of my two characters! Darn those alien interpretation devices. . . . .

Well, I guess there's nothing else to do. I'll have to go back and change the scene and start back again. That also means I will have to earase all of my current Book Month progress plus some from last year's....

Hey Visage, is there any way I could get my Book Month badge for completing my word goal of 20,000 last year?

I was brainstorming yesterday, and a thought ocurred to me. Since March is such an awful time for anybody in school to do Book Month (finals, homework, etc.), why don't we have an option of two Book Months? I can set up a website and would be happy to host one during the summer if there was enough interest. . . just a thought.

This is me, signing off

I started my Book Month story again, and I think I wrote about 600 words in two hours. (one of those hours was spent reading up on my characters' current situation, etc.)

Anyway, I thought I'd share one of my new scenes with you guys. It's sort of out of place without the rest of the story, but I think you'll get the idea... (Please forgive the gramatical errors, it's late and this part of the story is hot off the keyboard)

******

A few short hours brought them to the desert. New dunes had formed hundreds of feet high from the winds, and standing at the top of one let you see across the vast desert in all directions.

“Do you see any signs of your ship?” Kylas asked, carefully scanning the horizon.

“No, I… wait, I think I see it over there!” Phillip said, pointing to their left. A black mass dotted the white sands several hundred yards from them. A sudden feeling of security fell over Phillip at returning to his ship and he ran down the side of the dune toward the mass.

“Phillip, wait!” Kylas shouted, but he was not to be heard. The captain was already headed up the side of the next dune when Kylas began jogging down the first. He finally caught up with Phillip when the captain suddenly stopped at the top of one dune and slowly sank to his knees.

In a large valley of sand below, Captain Phillip Andrews’ ship lay in pieces, strewn out over an expanse, sand covering some parts, and smoke rising from some recently extinguished.

As Kylas reached his companion, he stared mournfully at the hideous sight. Lying awkwardly amidst the rubble, the occasional body of one of Philip’s crew jerked his emotions. A tear would slip down his cheek, not for his personal loss, but in sympathy for Phillip’s.

“There were two-hundred people on that ship,” Phillip whispered, voice quivering.

A harsh cry from above turned both of their attentions to the sky as familiar shadows passed over them and began to swoop low around the scattered remains.

Phillip stared in horror as the beasts began searching the mess for the bodies of his forsaken comrades. “No!” he cried in an outburst of rage, and he pulled a small dagger from his belt and raised it high above his head. He had just moved a foot down the hill when a firm hand grasped his wrist.

“Let me go,” Phillip hissed. “Can’t you see what they’re doing?” he moaned pathetically. His eyes were red, and veins on his arms had swelled.

“I won’t let you share the fate of your crew!” Kylas resisted, though he also ached to avenge these dead.

Phillip struggled weakly before releasing the knife and dropping to the ground in sobs.

**********

A little clarification on some things in case you didn't quite understand. The screeching was from a group of Rylpas which are like the large dragon version of a vulture. They'll kill something and come back for it if they need to, but usually they follow the Winds of Serian and eat the left overs... nice, huh?

Kylas is an 'alien' (and I use that in the very loosest way) who met Phillip when Phillip and his crew touched down and helped out Kylas in a scrape with some hostile androids.

I'm gearing up for Book Month already! I can't wait until I get started on Anaria again! Kylas was giving me a bit of trouble last time, but Captain Andrews was still cooperating..... I think the sergeant is going to survive the Winds of Serian, but I haven't really decided yet... Maybe he will, I've grown kind of fond of him.

Oh boy do I have some adventure lined up for these two! They get to infiltrate the city while it's swarming with androids, and then they get to sneak into the weapons manufacturing center and 'borrow' a couple of things.

Has anyone ever noticed how good Candy looks in this pic?

I'm really cold today! We've had both of our wood stoves running all day, and there's still a cill in some places. . . I much prefer warm weather. It takes a shorter time to cool off than to warm up...

I've been people watching again. I've noticed that women tend to talk in motions, while men just stand and have a nice conversation with one or both hands stuffed in their pockets. Also, I noticed that most of the women got very emotional when they spoke. Their facial expressions would change quite a bit during one conversation, but the men hardly moved.

I had a few more observations, but I think I'll save those for another time...

I started the design for another dress yesterday. I hope it turns out well.

On another note, I can't wait until the ski slopes are open again! I've never been skiing, but snowboarding's a blast!!! I even did an indy off of a jump last year!  (An Indy is a trick where you grab the board and pull it behind you while in mid-air)

I guess I'd better leave this entry at that for now...

This is me, signing off

Ok, I've been thinking about something lately... a writing group. I want to start a writing group. I can put a poster up for one at church, so I hope that gets some interest.

I've got another story bit to share! It's from a Bonanza fanfic I just started. Hope you like it!

The bucking horse spun in tight circles, trying to dislodge its rider. Shouts of encouragement from the corral fence were lost in the thumping of hooves before reaching the ears of the rider.

As the ornery chestnut stopped its spinning and headed for the fence, trying now to scrape off the irritation, the rider held on with all his might. This went on for only a few moments before the horse slowed to a halt in the middle of the corral. The rider sighed with relief, a smile beginning to curl the edges of his mouth, and loosened his hold on the rope.

Suddenly, as the first hand was about to take hold of the halter, the horse bolted forward, pitching the rider over its shoulder. But the horse stumbled and fell, just missing the man with the bulk of his body, but slamming his thick neck and head into the rolling man’s chest. When the horse was finally to his feet again, the hands gazed in disbelief at the body being slowly encircled by a cloud of dust.

At that moment, several men ran to him, afraid to move him, lest they hurt him further. While one man returned the horse to its holding pen, a larger, older man shouted for someone to ride to town for the doctor.

The hands gathered around the fallen man, each thinking out loud.

“Is he breathing?” one of the hands asked.

“I…don’ know,” a young Texan answered.

“He ain’t bleedin’.”

“He wa’n’t throwed that hard!” An older hand scoffed, though the other men stared at him for the tasteless comment.

The older man stepped close to the body and motioned for a few of the hands to help him haul the man to a buckboard nearby. “Let’s get him to the house!” he commanded in his rough, baritone voice. “Hoss, ride into town and get Doc Martin!”

Hoss grabbed Chubb’s reins and was on his way at once; Joe leaped to his father’s side to help him lift the injured man. Once they had placed the man carefully onto the buckboard, Joe hopped on the back to keep the body from shifting too much.

As the buckboard pulled away, the chestnut seemed to snicker proudly at his handiwork; it was the fifth rider he’d thrown that week, and this one had departed, by far, in the worst condition.

Well, as the header says, I have nothing I have to do today! Yesterday I slaved for hours trying to get the plants that were growing in the 3 inch layer of dust on my furniture out of my room!  

I hope to get some more Bonanza eps on DVD today. I want to buy them uncut eventually, but nobody has any Candysodes avaliable, so I'm putting them on DVD for myself until they realize their horrible mistake! I've aleady done The Prime of Life, and I'm hoping to get Sam Hill and The Smiler on DVD today.

I think I'll put a snippet in here of one of my novelettes... Let me know what you think on the tagboard. (no flaming please)

This one's from a novel I started about a year ago. It's science fiction, and it's incomplete... This section is pretty self-explanatory, so I won't put a header on it.

Captain Andrews paced through the next couple of hours. Once in a while, Connors turned and gave the captain a report on their situation. When there was only five minutes till contact, Captain Andrews stood by the window and stared at the approaching gas field. Soon, the whole room had gone completely silent. Only the occasional call of the countdown and the tapping and clicking of the computer systems were to be heard.

“Three minutes and counting…” a man said in a low, even tone.

The captain took a seat at the main control panel and started fidgeting with the keys. He was going to treat this almost like a landing.

“One minute and counting…” The tension grew even thicker. Some throughout the ship were bracing themselves. Others were quite confident in Captain Andrews’ and the other pilots’ abilities and Doctor Peterson’s concoction, so they remained calm.

“19…18…17…16…” the numbers rang slow and true through the control room. “15…14…13…12…11…10…” A million and one thoughts went suddenly racing through their minds as if this was their last ten seconds to be alive. “9…8…7…6…” The speckled field drew ever closer. Captain Andrews felt as if he could just reach out and touch it. “5…4…3…2…” Everyone grew tense. “1…” The front window in the control room was filled with the view of the gasses.  

The whole room was quiet for a moment. Then, suddenly, as everyone began to let their breath out, there was a great jolt of the ship. Not one person was spared from being tossed roughly to the floor.

A low, swelling buzz broke out throughout the ship. Faces turned pale in the control room.

“The spare oxygen tank!” Captain Andrews shouted as he leaped from his fallen chair and half ran half stumbled for the door. The violent shaking of the ship made it difficult to get around. Light fixtures were falling out of the ceilings of the hallways. Lamps and tables were falling down in peoples’ quarters. Beds were turning over. The only things that had not tumbled were the in-wall control panels. Everything in that room was bolted to something else.

Captain Andrews raced down the corridors, slipping and falling on the way there. In the halls were people strewn out on the floor, making it very hard to let him get past. As he met people he shouted, “Hold on to something solid! Grab hold of the ship if you can! Be careful of the falling lights!”

Only one more corridor and he would be at the oxygen room. It was sealed off from the rest of the ship by a great, metal door. When the captain reached the door, he punched in the code as quickly as he could with the jolts being so severe. “396…” his feet were kicked out from under him by a sliding pipe from the mechanics’ room next door.  He landed on the floor with a thud. But he got up as soon as his legs would let him. That leaking oxygen tank would endanger the whole ship! He punched in the rest of the code and the door lashed up into the ceiling. He staggered in and, to his horror, found a jagged hole in the side of the ship, and another one in the oxygen tank closest to it. The gasses had eaten away at the metal. Quickly, Captain Andrews opened a large box next to him and slipped on one of the oxygen masks. If he breathed in any of the fumes from outside, he might die. With the gaping hole in the ship, sucking out the air and everything else into oblivion, breathing in the gasses wasn’t as big of a deal as just breathing in general.

Captain Andrews made his way over to a control panel on one of the walls. The suction was almost too much for his human body to stand. His ears were aching, his head was pounding, and his muscles felt like they were going to just give out at any time…

He reached for the levers and keys and watched the screen above him carefully. He tried password after password, trying to gain access to the tank’s shut off valve. Through all the chaos around him, it was hard for him to concentrate. He had to dodge the occasional flying object as it passed his head. He knew he didn’t have long.

Finally, he typed the right password and there was a loud creak coming from the tank’s wall as a second layer of metal closed behind the first to contain the precious oxygen.

Once the tank was closed, the captain moved carefully to another control panel, groping for anything along the way that might steady him from the shaking floor. The throbbing buzz of the alarm grew quieter as the one from the oxygen tank quit, but was still loud enough to make the captain’s head continue pounding.

There was a triumphant thud as the layer of metal closed over the gaping hole in the side of the ship. All at once, the room began to re-pressurize itself. Though the quakes kept rocking the ship, an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and relief flooded into Phillip’s mind.

Suddenly, he was tossed to the floor. He got up and began to crawl on his hands and knees toward the door. When he reached the outside hall, he was back into the world of shouts and hysteria. He looked ahead of him to see Doctor Gildon waving his arms and shouting to him.

“Watch out! The light!”

Captain Andrews glanced up to see what the doctor was yelling about, saw a blackened light fixture hanging above him by a wire, then his whole world went black.

* * * * *

This is me, signing off

Hey!

 Well, in spite of feeling sick this morning, I feel really good! I had a good day today! Nothing special went on, but it was just one of the warm, sixty-five in January, days, and you just couldn't be in a bad mood!

Oh, I wanted to post this to see if it worked really quick. I hope you guys don't mind....

Hmmm..... a little fuzzy around the neckline....... I'll have to work on that and see if I can't touch it up a little.

Oh well.....

This is me, signing off!

Cool! I have my journal up now! Basically, what I'm going to do here is post just anything that comes to my mind. (that's what a journal's for, right?  

Nothing much has been happening lately. School started back last Monday, so that's been keeping me pretty busy....

Oh! I almost forgot! I've come up with a set of plans for this youth-center kind of thing! It's got basketball courts, and a reading room, and a video-game room, and a bowling alley, and a human-pinball machine, and all sorts of really cool stuff! I'll have to draw up a few design pictures and show them here. My only flaw is that I'm only sixteen right now, and I have nowhere NEAR the amount of money it will take to fund something like this.......... Oh well.... maybe in a few years. 

This is me, signing off.