Chapter 2: Fierce Anger

Before I post the chapter, I have to say I'm soooo happy I got that problem worked out! Ok here it is. Let me know if you see anything wrong with it.



Chapter 2: Fierce Anger

For a few minutes the man just lay there stunned.

Meanwhile, Teinas was busy stopping the others from attacking their leader, Eivarlost. With outstretched arms he ran in, "Sheathe your weapons men for I am Teinas and this," he gestured to Eivarlost, "your captain. We only rush in like this, because we are angered at the way you are conducting yourselves: partying with dancing and drinking! Even killing each other," he kicked over the corpse by his feet. A dagger protruded from the dead man's heart.

"And even speaking of women in times of war," shouted Eivarlost, venting his rage on the man at his feet by kicking his steel-toed boot at his side. Ribs cracked, and the man screamed in pain, spluttering blood from his mouth as he did so.

"You, Ramein, I thought I could count on you," Eivarlost continued, "You're just like the rest of these brutes! No discipline," and with that he booted Ramein again but lighter this time.

Slipping out a dagger, Eivarlost bent himself down next to Ramein, "I ought to gut you right here and now, man, but I'll be merciful," after a pause, "this time."

Meanwhile, Teinas was explaining to the others, half of which were drunk and not completely understanding, that although they may be able to "act this way back in our homeland, Nersins Realm, we must never do it when engaged in war." One of the men pointed out that it was hardly war when they were just pillaging villages and killing those inside. His comment, however, went unnoticed.

"Aye, Teinas, that is exactly right," Eivarlost glanced over the men, "I thought I could expect more from you. As it is, you have weakened and delayed us from completing our mission."

"Eivarlost," Teinas walked over to him. Eivarlost snapped his eyes on him, "More than half of the men are either drunk or out," he indicated the snoring drunks, warm rum running down their hairy chins. Eivarlost's face twisted in disgust.

"I think it'd be best," Teinas continued, "if we camped here a few days to try to 'pick up the pieces'. It'd be no easy task dragging these men along with us in this condition."

"Agreed," said Eivarlost. Then turning back to the men, he asked, "Are there any here who are not drunk?" Out of the thirty men, only five stood up.

Eivarlost pointed to Ramein, the man who had just received a good beating a few minutes earlier, "Two of you will take this dog back to Nersins Realm to heal up."

With that, Eivarlost carefully stripped Ramein of his dark cloak and handed it to the two men who had stepped up behind him, "Take this and tie it to two strong boughs. You're going to have to carry him back."

When the two young men began searching the ground and finding only thin sticks, Eivarlost rolled his eyes and added, "You might have to cut them from one of these trees here." The men, thus enlightened, went right to work, using their weapons to cut the boughs from one of the trees.

Ramein, meanwhile, was sprawled out on the ground, his mouth in a puddle of his own spit-up blood. He was in so much pain that he didn't want to even groan. He just lay there, his ribcage cracked and a continual bleeding on the inside.

Finally, the two young men had fastened the cloak to the boughs they had just chopped down and were hoisting Ramein up onto it in order to carry him away. Ramein screamed in pain.

As Eivarlost watched them disappear into the thick darkness, he began to feel sick to his stomach. What had he just done? He nearly killed a man! No, Ramein deserved worse than what he got.

"But does that excuse my actions," Eivarlost wondered aloud.

"Talking to yourself," a voice asked.

Eivarlost looked up to see Teinas, hopping over sleeping men to get to him.

"No, I-," after a pause, "How're the men?"

"Oh sure, change the subject," Teinas teased. Eivarlost let out a short laugh and punched Teinas' arm.

"No, seriously," he said.

"They're calmer now," Teinas answered, glancing back at the sleeping men. A few sat up staring into the dancing flames of the fire. The night was peaceful.

-Courtney-

Chapter 1: A Band of Rogues

Hey guys! You may have read one of my posts before about my attempting to write a book. Well, I've gotten the first two chapters written up (I'm still working on the third), so I figured I'd post 'em. Here's the first chapter. Let me know if you see any spelling mistakes or anything. And let me know what you think please! Here it is:



Chapter 1: A Band Of Rogues

Creeping stealthily through the Eisalthor Forest, the rogue and his band of thirty men, four of which were just recently recruited, drew nearer and nearer to their destination with every step.

They all wore the same dress: loose black breeches, black long sleeved shirts, dark leather gloves, black steel-toed boots, and had it not been so hot and humid that night, they would have been seen with pitch black cloaks around their shoulders, hoods pulled low. The only one who dressed in a slightly different fashion was their leader; Eivarlost was his name. The only real difference in his clothing was that he had a tinge of dark, blood red along the rims of his shirt and pants which signified his rank as captain.

Besides all of these, the warriors wore on their belts (or on their backs) their weapons of choice, some bearing long swords, short swords, scimitars, axes, maces, bows and arrows, katanas, etc. Many of them were also armed with throwing knives and daggers hidden away in their clothing, preferably their boots. Throwing stars and flick knives were not rare among these rogues.

Eivarlost carried two long swords latched onto his belt at both sides, their hilts adorned in a blend of black and dark navy blue. He had dubbed the sword on the left "Life" and the other "Death" because, when in battle, as one sword shot out to deflect an enemy's blow, the other would launch itself forward to slay that enemy.

Teinas, Eivarlost's right hand man and best friend since the age of seven, wore at his sides two razor sharp katanas, perfectly crafted with intricate designs lining the blades. The hilts were black as coal with blood red markings climbing up to the blades, which Teinas claimed was his name spelled out in some foreign language.

The two friends walked together side by side. The other warriors were only a short distance behind.

"I wonder if there are any stars out tonight," said Teinas trying to make conversation with the overly quiet Eivarlost. Eivarlost, lost in his own thoughts, did not hear. Teinas repeated himself, louder this time. Eivarlost shook himself from his thoughts.

"Perhaps," he said after a moment," but these trees are so thick with branches that you can hardly hope to catch even a glimpse of the sky."

"Shall we climb then," Teinas offered after a moment.

"And scare the men on the way down," asked Eivarlost with a wink.

Before Teinas could even answer, Eivarlost was up a tree and out of sight.

Eivarlost nimbly bounded from bough to bough, quickly ascending the tall oak tree. He finally halted at forty feet and rested himself amongst the leafy branches.

Slipping out a curved dagger from one of his worn out old boots, he proceeded in chopping off the many branches blocking his view. Streams of light began peeking through with every stroke of the blade. Eivarlost couldn't help but smile as he gazed upon the starlit sky. And the moon! It was a beautiful night. The only thing that could have made it better was if it weren't so hot and humid.

Sweat trickled down Eivarlost's dirty, unshaved face. How long had it been since he'd been out here. Three? Four years? Traveling around, raising villages to the ground. It was a difficult life and each of Eivarlost's kills weighed him down with more and more guilt. He had been told that it was for the good of his people, the people of Nersins Realm, but he still felt there was something wrong with it. Did he really have the right to take the life of another? And what did these people do that was so wrong? He had questioned his father on the matter, but had gotten no other explanation besides that the people were terrorists and continually harassed them about their lifestyle.

Eivarlost wasn't sure that was all bad, though. He was sickened by the many wicked things his people did. At least, they seemed to be wicked to him.... His father told him there was no such thing as, well, what the 'terrorists' called sin or wickedness, that the world was created from some spectacular boom and millions of years of evolving. Something told him that wasn't right, though. It didn't seem to be....possible. There had to be something more, but what? What was there? If this was all there was, then what is there really to live for? Did he have no purpose in this world at all? So many questions....

There was one thing that gave Eivarlost hope, and that was the moon and stars. Hope that even in the darkness, there is still light. But where was that light? He desperately wanted to find it. To find truth, real truth, if it was out there.

A voice from behind interrupted his contemplations. "The stars are beautiful tonight," Teinas remarked as he seated himself on a bough close to Eivarlost. Eivarlost nodded in agreement, his deep blue eyes, such a deep blue were those eyes, glowing in the moon light.

There was silence for a few minutes before Teinas broke out with, "Say, Eivarlost, you weren't, by any chance, kicking branches down at me?" Try as he might, Eivarlost could not conceal his smile.

After a few seconds of trying to remain serious, both men burst out laughing. They nearly toppled out of the tree, they were laughing so hard.

"Ah, Eivarlost," Teinas said after their laughing had died off, "Remember old times? Sneaking out at night? Scaring Emily Wraivers to death as she was passing the graveyard on her way home late after she sang at the competition?"

"Hmm, yeah, those were the good old days. Emily Wraivers....She did have a beautiful singing voice, didn't she Teinas? Oh, and her golden locks and light blue eyes were ever so gorgeous," Eivarlost teased.

"Ahh, shut your trap," retorted Teinas with a glare. Although he'd never admit it, Teinas still had a crush on Emily. "Besides," continued Teinas, "We'd best get moving if we're ever going to catch up with the band."

Eivarlost leapt up at this sudden remembrance and began a quick descent, Teinas at his heels (or more accurately, at his shoulders).

Quietly slipping down the rough oak tree, Eivarlost made his descent ahead of Teinas by about ten feet. This time, however, Eivarlost wasn't so lucky about being the quickest one down. Small branches, wood chips, and dirt showered down on him from above.

"Augh," Eivarlost cried, "Teinas!" But Teinas only laughed.

"Payback," he called from above then continued in his laughing, as Eivarlost, once again, made for the ground.

When Teinas was only ten feet from the ground, he took hold of a heavy bough below him and swung himself down, landing in a crouch beside Eivarlost who was also crouching.

"Would you mind grabbing our cloaks," Eivarlost asked Teinas, indicating the bushes. Teinas quickly retrieved the two cloaks and handed one to Eivarlost.

"Are they far," Teinas asked quietly.

Eivarlost shook his head and said, "No…no, I don't think so. Look there, " he pointed to a faint glow in the distance, "You can just make out the flames of a fire. My guess is they've stopped."

"Stopped," Teinas asked incredulously, "But why?"

"I don't know," Eivarlost replied, shaking his head as he silently made for the fire. Teinas followed, and in as little as two minutes, the young men were only three feet away from the camp behind some trees.

As they gazed upon the band from their hiding spots, Eivarlost and Teinas could see the men all gathered around a small fire, cooking some venison from some deer they had shot earlier in the day.

Eivarlost and Teinas caught only snatches of their conversation, "...far ahead of us...they'll come back when....missing," mumbled a voice.

"...canteen..Rum for me, Shalei," one man called to another.

Many of the men were drunk and could hardly stand. Some of them were shoving and yelling at each other over the canteens of beer and venison.

Eivarlost slammed his fist into the tree, "Those men have no discipline!"

Just then a fight broke out between two of the drunks. From the perspectives of Eivarlost and Teinas, they were fighting over a canteen of liquor.

"It's mine," broke out the shorter of the two, "t'is slobbling fiend is tryin' ta steal me can- can- canteen!"

"Yer'd have ta 'ave be'n a idjut not ta know t'at's mine," and with that the "slobbling fiend" drew out his flick knife and plunged at the first drunk who held the precious liquor.

The first man whipped out a dagger from his left boot and took a swipe at the other’s knife in an attempt to deflect it. The flick knife flew out of the second man's hand, bringing a smirk upon the shorter man's face. However, his luck would soon turn against him, for in the very next moment, he tripped over a boulder by his feet and landed on his stomach, the dagger plunged straight through his heart.

No one seemed to notice the dead man, nor did they care. They were having too much fun dancing by the fire and drinking to their hearts' content.

Eivarlost could hardly stand to watch, his face revealing his disgust.

Teinas remarked in a whisper to Eivarlost, "They're acting like a bunch of wild animals!"

"Beasts is more like it," replied Eivarlost distastefully. He added, "This is not a game anymore Teinas." His friend nodded in silent agreement.

A man sitting on a log not far from Eivarlost's hiding spot tore hungrily at his hunk of venison. In less than thirty seconds, the venison was gone, and the man greedily reached for more. With his mouth still full, the man said, "The only thing I'm wanting is some girls to spend the night with," and with that he laughed heartily.

That set Eivarlost off. The leader rushed in and slammed the flat of his blade against the surprised man's head, knocking him off the log he was sitting on and leaving him with a severe headache.

-Courtney-

Drawings For My Book (Eivarlost)

Here are some of my drawings I've done for my book. I know they're not very good but......

Leighah Hunting

Leighah and her Brother (haven't got a name yet)

Eivarlost and Teinas at Age 10 (Eivarlost is in the tree)

Teinas (left) and Eivarlost (right) Training at Age 15

Leighah under a Tree

(From left to right) Eivarlost and Teinas as they Venture off to Destroy Innocent Villagers

Eivarlost's Father (drunkard) and Eivarlost

Eivarlost and Leighah, his captive.

Eivarlost and his best friend, Teinas, at age 17.

-Courtney-

My Book (Eivarlost)

Hey, guys! I haven't written in a while....a long while.... Well, I've been drawing a bit lately for this book I've been attempting to write. I haven't gotten all that far, but I have the basic story in my head. If you want the basics of what I'm writing, I'll be posting it below.

Ok here goes. There is this wicked place called Nersin's Realm (I have a reason for calling it that. See if you can find out. =D). It is a place full of wickedness. It signifies the world.

Eivarlost, my main character, grew up in this aweful place with his drunkard father who only lives for fun. Eivarlost is different from most of the people in this place, however. He wants the truth, but he simply cannot find it, at least, not in the confines of this wicked city.

Eivarlost grew up being trained to kill. He was taught sword fighting since he was young. He trained alongside his best friend, Teinas who, although he is not quite like Eivarlost, is relatively a good.

Eivarlost, by the time he was near 20, became a leader of a small band of 30 men. His mission, given him by the lords of Nersins Realm, was always the same: destroy the innocent villages of the Christians.

Eivarlost does what he is told, but he doesn't feel quite right about it. Teinas, on the otherhand, continuously tells Eivarlost that "it's just the way things are" and "you've just got to go with the flow".

The rest of the story is about how Eivarlost finds the Truth through an old man who sacrifices himself for Eivarlost. Finally, his eyes are opened.

So....sound interesting? Oh yeah, and I need a title....any suggestions?


I think I forgot to tell you about Leighah. Well, all you need to know is that she also aids Eivarlost in finding the Truth.

-Courtney-

Grandparents

Our grandparents are coming to spend this weekend with us, so we've been cleaning the house. I had to really make sure I cleaned my room, since they're going to be sleeping in there. My room is the only room (besides Mom and Dad's bedroom) that has a big enough bed. I've got a couch bed which can pull out into a queensized bed, taking up practically the entire room. Well, I guess I'll tell you how it goes later. Not much of anything interesting to write of now, but.....


Christmas is going to be different this year. It always seems to change. I guess we're just going to get a few gifts. I'm pretty sure we won't be doing anything special. I don't really care though. I s'pose we'll just read the story of Christ's birth like we always do and just give gifts. I sure am glad my parents don't go into an uproar over Christmas. You know, like with buying all this stuff to give us. I mean it's really not that big a deal.

And don't you hate that Santa junk that some parents lay on their kids. I mean lying to the kids. I mean, how do you think the kids 'll feel when they find out you've been lying to 'em all their lives. Santa, humph, what a pack of lies. You know, Christmas is more of a pagan holiday than a holiday for Christ. At least, if you add in all that Santa junk it is. If you keep it simply about God, I suppose it's not.

The Santa junk is what gets me. And the Christmas tree. Did you know that if you move the letters in 'Santa' around a bit, you get 'Satan.' Coincidence? I don't think so. You know, Satanists like to scramble letters in words to create other words. And the Christmas trees, did you know Satanists used to hang the heads of those they sacrificed on evergreen trees. I don't mean to gross you out, but, well, it seems to me that the whole holiday is pagan (or at least has a pagan background).

Did you know that Satanists delight in Christmas. They love the Santa character and the Christmas trees and the decorations. They love the holiday. It seems to me that Christmas isn't so much about Christ as many like to believe, but is rather a holiday to glorify Satan and greed. Sorry, I think I'm getting off on a rant. I'd better stop now. God bless, ya'll!

-Courtney-

The Generous Coal Peddler's Reward (a narrative summary)

A true story I had to summarize for writing. I made a few minor changes just to make it a bit more interesting and so I could fit in a few things I needed to add. The writing program I do makes you think of interesting words and bans some words, such as said, thought and makes you use words like because, when, while, and words that end in ly such as excitedly and happily. Well, enjoy the story!

The Generous Coal Peddler's Reward
A narrative summary by Jaime Robinson
10/29-30/08

In Paris, France, there once lived a man named Jacquot, who sold charcoal to the wealthy people of the city. Although he labored very hard selling charcoal, he was still destitute. Lowly and poor, his house was only one room, but it was large enough for him and his family. He was a married man with two young sons, Charlot, the eldest, and Blondel. They were terribly poor in the city, but hard workers because of it. Managing to make enough money selling charcoal, Jacquot and his family got along fine day by day.


One day, when dinner was ready and the children hungry, Jacquot was very late arriving home. Being taught not to eat without their father, Charlot and Blondel waited impatiently. At the table, the children grumbled and complained, asking their mother, "When will father be home?" When the starving children were getting very upset, in walked Jacquot who was carrying a boy as wet as a sea sponge. Carefully, Jacquot laid the boy on one of the beds. Jacquot then explained, "I was on my way home and I saw this lad fall into the fountain near the park. I brought him to our house because I did not know where he lived. Now, quickly, give him some dry clothes and a bit to eat." They did as Jacquot had commanded, and soon after the boy awakened. "Where am I? Where am I?!" cried the boy. "You are at my home," answered Jacquot. When the boy ate some more, they heard a knock on the door. The door opened and some gentlemen walked in. "We have come to take Louis home," they declared.


When the gentlemen had declared why they were there, the unknown boy stood to make an announcment. "I am Louis the fourteenth, who is the king of France. Being so young, I do not actually rule France. At this time, my mother rules for me, but when I am older I shall take my place as king. Thank you very much for generously caring for me. Happily, I shall give you much money so you may be able to give your boys an education and buy a larger home because you have been so kind. Also, please pay me a visit at the palace one day. Now I must return to the palace." "Thank you very much for your generousity, my lord," answered Jacquot, as the little king returned to the palace, leaving his new friend, the coal peddler, in delightful surprise.



-Jaime Robinson-

Freedom To Peck: A Story Written Together

Freedom To Peck
By: The Robinsons

Johnny Pecker, a runt of a chicken, squeezed through the wire fence that surrounded the henhouse, and took off with a sprightly bound across the yard. Mother had scolded him for pecking at everything in his path, including his twelve siblings, so he had escaped while his mother was napping drowsily on her new batch of eggs. Joyfully, he moseyed about until he came upon an enormous tractor tire, which he immediately began pecking happily. Losing interest in the tire, he proceeded toward the tool shed, where he hammered his beak on several rusty tools which were strewn carelessly on the ground beside the shed. As he was pecking away at the tools, he noticed a peculiar looking snake snoozing in the afternoon sun, and because of his curious nature, he decided to investigate. This was the life! How wonderful it was to be finally free of his strict mother and her lenghthy lectures!

Cautiously at first, Johnny pecked on the snake because he wanted a playmate. As the snake did not awaken immediately, he began to peck even more insistently. Growing impatient with this slothful reptile, Johnny began to tease it rudely,"You are just as lazy as you are rubbery, and your head looks funny too!" When the snake did not respond to these taunts, he began to peck at its back more viciously than ever. Out of nowhere, a drenching waterspout rushed into his beak, causing him to be violently thrown into the air befor landing in a soggy heap.

Running frantically, he sped to the henhouse where his mother was just awakening from her nap, which had been most refreshing for once, since Johnny had not been there to cause trouble. In a panic, Johnny rushed under his mother's stretching wings, relieved that he had not been killed by the savage beast, and had lived to see his dear mother again. Since he was soaked and hungry, his mother kept him by her side and fed him some warm cornmash. Gratefully, Johnny nestled beneath her cozy wings and watched his siblings play. He was even glad to leave them alone because he had learned a lesson about pecking on others. Never again would Johnny desert the henhouse, not even for freedom to peck as he pleased.

THE END

-Courtney-

Courtney's Poems

Dancing Chance Has Ants
By Courtney Robinson

There once was a man named Chance

Who, everyone knew, could dance

When asked how he learned,

He just elvis turned

And said, "There are ants in my pants."



Frightened Ficklebard
By Courtney Robinson

The Sneaters fight bravely; the sneaters fight hard

Except for one Sneater, young Ficklebard.

Ficklebard stands watching, totally in a fright

Until a Snickerbob attacks him, and he wins the fight.



Land of the Canines
By Courtney Robinson

Dogs ride by me on their trikes.

Amazing that they could ride the little bikes.

I look towards the skate park and what do I see?

Even the puppies skateboard better than me.

A group of skating dogs zoom past.

How could they go so very fast?

Cars drive by, and who is driving?

In each car a barking canine.

What's going on?

The dogs even mow the lawn.

The human catcher sees me without a leash.

Here he comes, oh sheash.

As his net comes down upon me, I scream,

But then I wake up; it was only a dream.



Ants
By Courtney Robinson

Tiny creatures scrounge for crumbs.

They see my sub and beg like bums.

Laughing at the specks, I squash them with my thumbs.

Booming drums could be heard all around.

A fleet like pepper attack my ground.

I helplessly struggle to get away,

But these pepper-like soldiers hold me down.

The bugs tediously work, carrying the sub piece by piece.

I laugh and laugh at them,

Until finally they gag me with a stem.

A whistle blew.

And immediately a crew

Of body-building creatures like pepper corns

March in with booming horns.

Together they lift the sub without a struggle.

I giggled inside, thinking of them trying to push

The sub into their hole by the bush.

But to my disappointment I found

That they weren't trying to shove it in the ground.

Instead they gathered all of the colony

To enjoy a picnic of my precious sub with the greatest salami.



The Leaf
By Courtney Robinson

The leaf leaped off the tree,

Determined to be free.

As it glided to the ground,

It observed with a frown,

The grass was covered in dead leaves.



Fearsome Flannel
By Courtney Robinson

It came alive today, it did.

The Fearsome Flannel flew at me.

I ran and hid behind a tree,

But Fearsome Flannel wasn't deceived.

I started to run, but then I saw

That Fearsome Flannel wasn't fearsome at all.



The Bible
By Courtney Robinson

The Bible is a double-edged sword.

It dubs the righteous,

And pierces the wicked.

Life does it bring to those who obey,

Yet death will it give to the disobedient.

All who bear this sword undergo persecution,

But he who perseveres shall never see death.

So snatch up your sword, read it,

And destroy the enemy's work.

Courtney

My Parable-Type Writings

There was a beautiful flower that
died and blew away. When it died,
it left seeds behind. The seeds
grew and became even more brilliant
and beautiful than the first.

The first flower is like someone
who died for Christ. A person who
was not ashamed and who boldly
proclaimed the gospel. When
he/she was killed, others
were grafted into the family
of Christ. They were given
courage and boldness after
the first gave up his/her life
for Christ. God can take even
the worst circumstances and
use them for good.


Parents are like the covers of a book.
Children are like the pages of the book
and God is like the binder which holds
everything together. Without God,
you're incomplete. God keeps us
together.


Christians are like canoes, and God
is like our paddles. He steers us
away from sin and towards our
future home with Christ.
Unbelievers are like canoes
without paddles; they drift
off into sin and finally destruction.


We are like trees. Satan and his demons
are like wood cutters who try to cut us down,
so they can throw us into the fires of hell.
If we call upon God, he will save us.
If we hold fast to Him, then Satan
and his forces of evil will not cut us down.
We must hold onto Jesus, otherwise
Satan WILL chop us down.


We, Christians, are like different types
of automobiles. God is like our motor;
He keeps us going,but if we don't
fill our gas tanks with the
Word of God, the Bible, we won't
be able to go anywhere. We
may be saved, but we won't grow
in our relationship with Him.
Anyone who loves God WILL want
to grow in their relationship with Him.
Both prayer as well as reading the
scripture are very important
in keeping our relationship
with our Savior.


Some people say that God
doesn't answer their prayers,
but he always answers prayer.
He does so in several different ways
such as: yes, no, wait, or for an
unbeliever, I can't hear you!
God answers the prayers of
true Christians, but rejects the
prayers of those who are
living their lives in sin.
Sin separates us from Christ.
We MUST REPENT of our sin
and follow Christ in
righteousness and truth,
FORSAKING our old man and
living our lives as examples
of Christ.


Jesus is our ticket to heaven,
but if we lose our ticket because
of sin, we will not be saved,
and we will go to hell unless
we repent and repurchase
our ticket.


Unbelievers are like filthy pigs;
they have the time of their lives
eating garbage and rotten food.
They roll around in their sin,
thinking they're just fine the way
they are, but when Farmer Satan comes,
they are slaughtered and feasted upon.

But those that are saved
are like sheep, protected by
Jesus, the good shepherd.


Toying with little sins is
like playing with matches.
Soon your whole life will be
caught on fire, for a few small
sparks can quickly become
a raging fire. If you repent
and call upon Fireman God,
he will put out the fire
and save you. You will
get burned if you play
with sin, but if you repent,
God will save you.


God is like our Commander.
He commands. We obey. When
He tells us to do something, we do it.
If anyone is not being obedient to
Christ, then he/she is NOT a
follower of God. We may
make mistakes, but if we
are living lives of sin, then
we are NOT Christians.
1 John 2:3-6 says:

Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. 6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.


We are like unexperienced sailors. We try to
steer our lives away from sin, but we just can't.
When we get saved, Jesus takes over and steers our
lives in another direction. He leads us into
righteousness and truth rather than sin and
lawlessness. When we're ready, He hands the
steering wheel to us, and gives us a map, the Bible.
We must follow the map so that we do not steer
into sin which will eventually lead to our deaths.
We must follow and do everything the way the map
tells us to, otherwise we may not make it to our
destination, heaven, where we will have
everlasting life with Christ, our savior.

-Courtney-

Old Camping Trips

I remember one year we went camping on a mountain somewhere in Virginia. I'm not sure what the campground is called, but it was a really great camping trip. We went in the fall so it was extremely cold, and we had to sleep in a tent. We got the best campsite; it was right near a rushing stream.

I remember a few teenagers going down the stream in tubes. They must have been freezing in that ice cold water, not to mention we were up on a mountain in the middle of fall. We tried fishing in the stream, but there were really only little fish and about a million bugs.

The only bad thing about where our campsite was, was that the bathroom was all the way up this enormous hill, and at night when you had to go and you just wanted to stay in your nice, warm, cozy sleeping bag, you had to climb this giant hill in the cold to get there.

They had the best playground there. I remember playing on some real seesaws. At one time when we were at the playground, some teens came and were playing on the merry-go-round. We didn't hesitate to hop on, well, maybe I did for a minute because I was shy, but I ended up joining. I was glad too because they spun really fast.

I also remember on another day some other kids came to the playground. They were probably a little older than we were. I remember trying to play on the seesaw with the boy, but he was alot bigger than I was, and so I ended up staying at the top while he sat practically on the ground.

I also remember how, in the morning, it was so freezing outside that I didn't even want to get out of my sleeping bag. I had to get up, of course, so I'd hurry up and get dressed so that I could sit by the fire and warm up again. Mom was awesome in the morning; she'd get us all some hot chocolate to help warm us up.

There were always nuts on the ground from the trees above us, so I'd go collecting 'em, so that later when we lit a fire, I could throw 'em in and watch 'em pop. It was so cool. I'd make a furnace like thing with the logs so that I could toss the nuts in. After a few seconds they'd explode. After a bit, my parents said not to do it anymore, unfortunately, because sometimes it would throw out some sparks. It burned a hole in one of the chairs once.

When we were at the playground playing once, Dad accidentally squirted Mom with the hose when he was trying to rinse off some dishes. She was so angry about it because it was cold outside. After she went and changed, she sat hard on one of the chairs with a plate of food. The chair tipped back, and Dad had just enough time to save her plate of food before Mom fell to the ground.

One time, we went to this one campsite near our house. We got this awesome cabin. I remember when we lit a fire, and it started to rain. At first it was really windy. The wind started blowing the sparks everywhere. It was really wild. Mom thought we were going to burn the place down if we didn't stop it. After dumping water all over the fire, we retreated to the cabin. Just as soon as we got under the roof above the porch, rain started poring down.

At another time, we went camping in North Carolina near where our grandparents live. I can't remember what any of these campsites are called....sorry. We got a cabin there too. It was alot better than the one we got at the other place, but that's probably because we got a bigger one. They had an awesome lake called Lake Gaston.....

I remember one time we went canoing there together. Me (Courtney), Will, and Mom went in one canoe, while Dad and Jaime went in the other. We were all going under a bridge. The canoe I was on was ahead. As we went under the bridge, we were trying to steer right, but we ended up crashing into the bridge's sloping pillar-type-structure. Mom was panicking; she thought we were going to sink. Luckily we were on metal canoes, otherwise we might have sunk.

While we were at this campsite, Will got the idea to create little ships out of some bark off of the trees. We had some suckers, so when we were done eating them, we saved the wrappers for sails for our ships. They weren't bad either. We used our knives to make the fronts more ship-like. When we tested them, they sailed pretty well, at least, most of them did.

One night, we had the best dinner ever, subs. Mom made her own subs, and they were delicious. Mmmm.......I felt sorry for anyone who had to eat more hamburgers and hotdogs. Subs are so much better.

Another time, we went with our grandparents, Mom mom and Pop pop, to this campsite on another mountain in North Carolina, I think. While we were there, we kids found a vine or long branch partly connected to one of the trees. We used it to swing on. It was really fun; we would swing down over this gap, and it would then swing us back to our starting place. After a while it broke though. I had just swung really far, and as soon as I had landed it broke. Luckily it didn't break while I was swinging.

After the 'vine' broke, we had to find other things to do. We met this boy while we were there, Patrick. He was a little younger than Will. I think he was 11 or 12. We went with him to find small crawdads (or crayfish) in the little stream by our campsite. The boys got some cups to catch the crawdads in, and we girls basically alerted the boys when we spotted one. After catching about a million of the little creatures, we eventually let them go, so we could catch them all again later.

After a day or two we climbed up this giant mountain. We went up one side and down the other. Around the rocky parts near the top, there was a bit off water running down the mountain. It was mostly just little trickling slits of water, though. The view was great from the top. I carved my name on one of the trees there as best I could with my knife. When we got near the bottom on the other side, we found this river running through the place. Eventually it would all drop off into a waterfall. As soon as we reached the bottom, we were below the great waterfall and by a stream. We kids jumped around on these giant rocks and crossed to the other side. Dad took us kids up onto a ledge right next to the waterfall. It was really awesome being right next to the waterfall, being right there! Well, that's all I can think of for now......


-Courtney-