#ShortStory: {Summoners: The Lightning Bear Episode 3}

In the world of Summoners, certain humans are empowered with the ability to summon, objects of immense powers. Most, like Team Amaria use their power to protect and serve…while charging a reasonable fee.

Episode3 of 3

 

 The car could only take them so far up the mountain, the rest they had to go on foot. When they made it to the top, they found a cave, leading to an ancient volcano. Lightning shot out of the top of it. Some bolts exited the cave’s entrance. 

“How do we get past that?” Denzel asked.

“I will take point,” Amaria said. “I should be immune to some of the weaker bolts.”

“And the stronger bolts?”

“They will hurt…a lot,” Amaria said. “But we will need to conserve energy to take on the creature. It’s probably a lightning dragon.” Amaria ran for the entrance.

“Girl you are crazy!” Angel said.

“And we are the one following her,” Denzel said. “I think that puts us on a higher level of crazy.”

The team dodged a few of the bolts. Amaria deflected others and after a few more harrowing blasts, they were at the center of the cave. They found the creature. A part of the mountain had caved-in and a small bear, maybe as tall as Angel’s knee with white fur and a black lightning bolt on its back, was trapped under a boulder. It was expelling a heavy amount of lightning trying to free itself. Amaria’s heart sank. He wasn’t some menacing creature that needed taming. He needed help. “A Lightning Bear. We have to help him. He can’t generate this much electricity…. He must be drawing on his own life force.”

“Okay, I can handle the boulder,” Denzel said. “But I can’t keep him from frying me too.”

“I will take care of him,” Amaria said.

“I will root for you guys, over here, where it is safe,” Angel said.

Denzel clasped his hands together as if he was praying. “I summon psychic armor.” His armor emanated a bright blue light. Near metallic blue energy surrounded his body and hardened. He ran to the side of the bear and grabbed the boulder. The bear turned his energies on Denzel.  His armor held but it would only hold for so long.

Amaria grabbed the bear and absorbed his energy. “We are trying to…help, you,” she said. Denzel lifted the boulder up. Amaria picked up the bear and ran. “Stay away from us.” She ran outside, away from her friends. His energies were threatening to tear the poor creature apart. She raised a finger in the air. “I summon lightning rod” Her body turned into a conduit for electricity and the energy traveled through her and down into the ground. Something popped and her world turned dark.

When she awoke, water covered her from head to toe. It was one of Angel’s summonses. Healing water. She blinked her eyes and looked around. Angel waved her hands and the water dissipated in the air. “You gave us a scare,” Angel said.

Denzel loomed overhead. “I am going to need you to be scared when you are supposed to be scared.”

“I was scared…couldn’t you sense how scared I was?” Amaria asked.

“I don’t go around reading people emotions, Amaria. The first thing a psychic summoner learns is to stay out of people heads.”

“How…how could you avoid the temptation?”

“I know that if I ever read your deepest thought, you would never trust me again,” Denzel said. “And I couldn’t bear that.”

“Oh cry me a river,” Angel said. “If I was psychic, I would not care. What’s the point of having a gift and not using it?”

“I care about our team,” Denzel said. “Team members have to trust one another.”

“So,” Amaria said. “If I want you to know how I feel, I have to tell you?”

Denzel nodded. “Just like you would any other person.”

“Oh.”

“So is there anything you want to tell me?” Denzel asked.

“Well, uhm. Your hair looks nice today.”

“Oh. Yours too. In a wet and electrocuted sort of way.”

“Before this gets even more awkward,” Angel said. “Your little bear friend walked away.”

“It’s just as well,” Amaria said.

The three of them walked down to their saucer shaped vehicle. As they approached, it became clear that the car was rocking back and forth. Angel grabbed a disk and Denzel quietly clapped his hands together. They walked around the car and found the lightning bear eating honey.

“My honey!” Angel clenched her fist.

“Hi,” the bear said.

Amaria did a double take. “You can talk?”

“Yes, as could my mother. I owe you a debt.”

“You can pay by putting my honey down,” Angel said.

Amaria hushed her with a wave of her hand. “We are summoners, we travel the world and use our abilities to help others,” Amaria said. “I need a partner for my lightning summons. Would you like to join us? You would not have to fight; I just need you to charge lightning spheres before I go into battle.”

“Will there be honey?”

“Yes,” Amaria said.

He looked back and forth among the three of them and then to his honey. He stuck his paw in and ate some more. “Sure. My mother always said; you can never have too many friends.”  

The End.

You can buy my adult scifi novel Hearteless: A Journey to Second Earth  @amazon or here.

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#ShortStory: {Summoners: The Lightning Bear Episode 2}

In the world of Summoners, certain humans are empowered with the ability to summon, objects of immense powers. Most, like Team Amaria use their power to protect and serve…while charging a reasonable fee.

Episode 2 of 3

Back in the city, Amaria charged the mayor only half their normal fee for their services. It was only fair, the full job required them to incapacitate and remove the creature.

That night, they spent the final night in Yeowo City. Angel spent the night re-filling water disks. Denzel was no doubt in his room meditating, healing from the day’s battle.

Amaria found herself in her room staring at the night’s sky. She was the weakest of her group. Angel was a water specialist. Working on land limited her abilities, but she managed to overcome the limitations with water discs. Denzel was an incredibly powerful psychic type. He didn’t have any weaknesses and he could read her mind anytime he wanted. But if that was true, did he know how she felt about him?

The next morning, Amaria walked to the meeting place at the central triangle of the city. Angel appeared first, she was carrying an umbrella that matched her long flowing, green gown.  “Love the braids,” Angel said. She set her backpack down.

“Thanks.”

A saucer shaped car pulled up by the fountain. The two girls grabbed their things once they realized it was Denzel. He had on a short blue tunic, with black leather pants and boots. He opened the storage compartment under the car and helped the girl place their things. He then helped the both of them into the car. Amaria wore a long red tunic, black tights and the standard summoner’s boots. She wasn’t inclined to need help getting anywhere, but how could she refuse Denzel’s outstretch hand?

“Who wants to drive?” Denzel asked.

“I do,” Angel said as she hopped to the driver’s side.

Denzel smiled and sat in the back. Amaria sat beside Angel. In mere moments, Denzel was asleep. Amaria turned around and watched him as Angel kept her eyes on the road. Amaria looked around, trying to take in the scene but periodically her eyes drifted back to Denzel. Until he opened his left eye opened. She faced forward quickly, and commanded her body to stay that way….

“Something wrong?” he asked.

She thought quickly. He was psychic. A truth was better than a lie. “I uhm, was just thinking about how I wish I could be more useful in the field. I could have gotten one of us hurt.”

“You worried about that?” Angel said. “Everyone isn’t born an earth, wind or even a psychic summoner.”

“Being a psychic summoner isn’t that great,” Denzel said. “I would rather be a lightning summoner.”

Amaria turned around. “Really? You graduated from summoning school when you were twelve. You are a gifted psychic type.”

“But it took me three years to find a team.”

“That’s because you snore when you sleep,” Angel said.

“I snore?”

“No.” A flash of lightning caught Amaria’s eye. “Wait, stop!” Amaria fell under the dashboard as the car lurched forward.

“What is it?” Angel said.

“Look at the mountain.” Lightning danced from the top of the mountain to the sky itself. “That has to be a powerful lightning creature. I can catch one and train him to charge a lightning sphere.”

“Hmmmm,” Denzel said. “It’s dangerous to try to tame a creature in your summoning affinity.”

“What can it hurt to try?” Angel said.

End of episode 2

You can buy my adult scifi novel Hearteless: A Journey to Second Earth  @amazon or here.

For email updates, please click HERE and feel free to leave a message.

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#ShortStory: {Summoners: The Lightning Bear Episode 1}

In the world of Summoners, certain humans are empowered with the ability to summon, objects of immense powers. Most, like Team Amaria use their power to protect and serve…while charging a reasonable fee.

Episode 1 of 3

The team ran as quickly as they could through the woods. Dodging trees, leaping over fallen logs and ducking branches, Amaria readied her summoning technique. Drawing upon her emotions, she looked to her left. Denzel nodded. His dark brown eyes speaking the words before she heard them in her head. I’m ready!

She looked to her right. Angel gave her the thumbs up, her fiery red hair flowing in the wind.

They were ready.

The three of them stopped, turned around and moved into a defensive stance. The sound of breaking branches was almost as uncomfortable as the sound of her heart pounding in her ears. The last tree broke and the metallic armored creature rushed toward the trio. It threatened to impale them with the two spikes on its tale. “Now Denzel!”

Denzel clapped his hands. “I summon a psychic cloud!” A glowing blue cloud appeared above his head. “Attack with mental confusion!”  The cloud rushed the creature, swirled around its head and disappeared. The creature stopped and twirled in a circle first to the left and then to the right. “It will not hold him long,” Denzel said.

“I am on it,” Angel said. She threw a disk at the creature’s foot. “I summon a water prison!” The small disk burst and gallons of water came forth and caught the creature in a sphere of water.

Amaria raised a single finger in the air. “I summon lightning!” 

Nothing happened.

Amaria looked up. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The creature burst out of the water prison and rushed toward Amaria. Denzel moved quick enough to drag her out of the way of its gnashing teeth.  

“Psychic cloud return!” The cloud flew to Denzel, surrounded him and disappeared.

“I summon water dolphins,” Angel said. Three dolphin-shaped water creatures appeared from her disk and engaged.

Denzel took Amaria to the base of a tree. “What’s wrong?”

“No clouds—and there isn’t enough electricity in the air,” she said. “I need Angel to produce a cloud.”

He closed his eyes. “Okay. She knows.” He opened his eyes. “I will hold the Megasauron.” He ran to Angel’s side and summoned a big psychic wolf. Blue Fang. His most powerful summon and yet it paled in comparison to the Megasauron. Angel ran to the opposite side and threw two disks in the air. She shouted her summon and it began as a low fog until it lifted higher. Amaria could feel the difference in polarity in the cloud and the ground.

It was time.

She ran out and stood next to Denzel just as his Psychic wolf cracked under the bite of the metallic teeth of the Megasauron. She raised a finger in the air. “I summon, lightning barrage.” Several lightning bolts struck the ground and the creature. After the fourth shot, the great lizard fell to the ground.

Denzel was on a single knee. Amaria rushed to his side, immediately running her fingers through his wool-textured hair. His bronze arms tensed as he clutched his head. “Denzel, are you okay?”

He took a deep breath. “Yes, when he destroyed my wolf, I got some feedback.”

She helped him up. “Thanks for having my back.”

“Thanks for having mine.”

“So, how do we get this thing back into the wild?” Angel asked. “The plan was to use your psychic wolf to drag its unconscious body back to the west.”

“I can’t summon anything big enough,” Denzel said.

“We will have to send a clean-up crew,” Amaria said. “It can’t be helped.”

End of Episode 1

You can buy my adult scifi novel Hearteless: A Journey to Second Earth  @amazon or here.

For email updates, please click HERE and feel free to leave a message.

Also, feel free to comment below and follow me on Google and Twitter @ Frank_D_Rogers

15 Healthy distractions to deal with stress and boredom

Distractions….whether we admit it or not, we all need some type of distraction from society. Society is stressful in general and in order to deal with stress, we need distractions. And when it is not stressful, it can be achingly boring. It depends on the individual. Some of us love to go to work, but we hate coming home. And then there are those of us who love coming home but hate going to work. Even if we love going to work, there is always a stressful element threatening to push us over the edge. To help us get through we need healthy distractions.

My definition of a healthy distraction is something that will not hinder your life, isn’t dangerous and isn’t illegal. I can think of several examples of unhealthy distractions , but just to name a few.... Drugs are dangerous, watching “bad” videos at work is a really “bad” idea and drinking while driving is just idiotic.

So here are some healthy distractions:

1.       Going for a walk: You can take a break from work or home and go for a walk. Good scenery is a bonus.

2.       Meditation/Prayer.

3.       Exercise: I don’t do this enough. But find an exercise that relaxes you and it will become a lifelong friend.

4.       Read a good book: If you are like me and don’t have as much time to read, consider getting an audio book. It isn’t the same as holding a book in your hand, but it is just as much fun and has nearly the same benefits.

5.       Sing.

6.       Play/Listen to Music.

7.       Play with children: I remember one week I watched my infant daughter; I got behind in my work and spent the following weeks catching up. But that week with my daughter is a week that I will always cherish. My son and I don’t play chess very often, but when we do—we have a good time. Play with your children. It is a blessing on many levels.

8.       Laugh: I like to watch cartoons that make me laugh on a daily basis. Some of the funny cartoons/shows can be mind-numbingly dumb, so choose carefully.

9.       Watch/Play Sports: Hey, its football season and basketball is right around the corner. Enough said.

10.   Paint.

11.   Draw.

12.   Write: I have found that daily writing is as relaxing as reading. I have a goal when it comes to writing. Ambition tends to take what is a fun hobby and turn it into something less enjoyable. So make it a point to find a good balance between fun and work, if your hobby has potential to be a future occupation.

13.   Create Jewelry.

14.   Dance.

15.   Spend time with loved ones.

There are hundreds of possiblities. The most important thing for you to consider is what you are doing and why you are doing it. Take a moment to reflect on these ideas and other things that you can do that will have a positive impact on your life right now.

When we take some time to consciously "distract" ourselves in healthy ways—as opposed to accidentally distracting ourselves in unhealthy ways—we interrupt the negative things that bring on stress and boredom. Thus, we are one step closer to having peace and joy in our lives.

Dreaming beyond our Circumstances

As we celebrate the anniversary of a great speech, sermon, lecture and vision. It is important that we consider all the many things we can learn from Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech. I want to look at something that we all can draw upon and apply to our lives. That is the ability to dream beyond our circumstances—to look past situations, obstacles or mountains in our lives and see what is at the end of our path.

Sometimes we need sight beyond sight to dream beyond our circumstances. Sight beyond sight is another way of seeing well enough to take that first step even though we can’t see the entire staircase. It is faith. But faith is a product of believing, but in order to believe it we have to conceive it. That is dreaming beyond our circumstance.

It is hard when everything and everyone tells you no. No, you can’t have a good job. No, you can’t have your bills paid. No, you can’t have a faithful spouse. No, you can’t have healthy children. No, you can’t have a running car. No, you can’t have a decent house. No, you can’t have a better life. No. No. No.

But when you dream beyond your circumstances, you don’t take “no” for an answer.

That is one of the many things we can take from this great man of liberty—that we can dream beyond our circumstances. Not just for ourselves, but for our children, our family and friends. We can dream beyond their circumstances too.  But being the teacher that I am I have to say, that a dream is no more than shimmering air if there is no plan or action behind it. Open your heart to your dream. Conceive it. Believe it. Plan for your dream and work for your dream with the belief that it will come true.

Conceive it, believe it, plan it and then work for it.

7 ways to help your child succeed in school

I attended a public school as a child and like all students who did exceptionally well in academics, I had to deal with the negative stigmatism of having “book sense but no common sense.” As if there was something terribly wrong with seeking excellence in pursuit of an education. I didn’t truly care what others thought. My parents didn’t raise me to care what other people thought, but even I have to admit that when you come from humble a background it seems that succeeding in school can be challenging.

As an adult, I see that more people realize that in order to move from one social class to another, you will have to embrace the power of education. A degree or certification in an area of expertise is a gift that keeps on giving. But we often find our children struggling in middle school and relying on dreams of playing a sport to be there legal way out of poverty level living.

But every child is not LeBron James.

Our children have more challenges today than we did as children. They need their parent's help to succeed. And it is in our best interest to help them…unless we want them to live with us, well into their 40’s.

So, here are ways you can help your child succeed:

1.      First and foremost, show your children that you care.

My parents didn’t follow all of the advice here. But they did the most important thing a parent could do. The showed that they cared.

My mother cared enough to pursue her own educational endeavors. Seeing her work hard to take care of us and get an education was both motivating and confirming. It motivated me to continue to learn and confirmed that hard work would pay off.

And my grandmother prepared me for the first grade, because I couldn’t get into pre-school. I was ahead of some of the students and I was eager to learn.

They showed that they cared in their own way. And that is the most important thing you can do. Show that you care in your own way.

Note: Most of what I will list falls under the umbrella of showing that you care.

2.      Ask about your children’s homework.

If you show that you care about their homework, then they will care about their homework.

3.      Talk to you children about school for a short time each day.

For the same reason you ask about their homework. Now, I understand, listening to your child talk about the drama of school—something you left behind a long time ago—can be like watching paint dry. But you only need to do it for a few minutes to “show” interest.

When you talk with them, talk from a positive point of view. Don’t say things like, “I wasn’t good in school.” It just gives them a reason to not do well in school either. Instead, say, “School is a great, because knowledge is power.” Or something along that line. Just be positive. If you try, you can find something positive to say.

4.      Teach children respect for authorities, their fellow students and themselves.

Don’t be that parent.

You know the one that always takes their child’s side. Little Damien can be sitting there with horns coming out of his head and steam coming out of his ears. Yet his mother is calling him her little angel. I guess that it is a parent’s job; to see the best in their child, but don’t give them an avenue to manipulate, you and the teacher.

5.      Ensure that your child is living healthy.

They need plenty of sleep, healthy foods to eat and clear water to drink. Limit their television, video games and increase their physical play. Exercise sends oxygen to the brain—it makes you smarter. Some parents will have a problem with this because you can’t enforce these rules and be your child’s friend.

But you child already has friends.

They don’t need you to be their friend. They need you to be their mother or father. And if you need them to be your friend, then might I suggest making friends with Jesus or another adult?

6.      Actively take part in educating your child.

This could involve buying books for your child, reading to your pre-school or elementary child and encouraging your child to read. I visit the bookstore weekly with my family and everyone gets something to read, even my one-year old.

Also, help them with their homework. Don’t do their homework for them, push them in the right direction or encourage them to do their best. I have had times when my son has come to me with problems and I had to read the question twice, because I had no clue what they were asking.

Difficulty with the homework can be expected, but even if you have no idea how to do whatever your fifth grader is doing, you can find someone that does. If you have a humble background, you may not have the funds for a tutor, but someone in the family can help. And even if you can’t find anyone, put aside whatever you are doing and try to figure it out together. It will be fun. If you aren’t able to figure it out, be positive. Tell your child that “we” must be missing something and tell him or her to ask the teacher a few choice questions {depends on the problem} and encourage your child to move on to the next problem, this will give your child a mission that is important to the both of you and they will try even harder.

7.      And finally give them a reward for good behavior.

It is called positive reinforcement. You are reinforcing positive actions with positive rewards. Don’t give them food as a reward. I have four words for you. Obesity. Diabetes. Heart Disease. Give them a toy, book, money or something that they will appreciate and preferably won’t hurt your pocket.

That’s it. 7 ways and your child will be on his or her way to becoming something great. Also, remember to teach your child that everyone is a genius at something and everyone can be a genius at working hard.

 

How to Forgive: 3 steps

“Ouch!” That hurt right? That mosquito bit you and WHAM, you sent that joker to bug hell. No hard feelings. You got your revenge and you are done with it. Better yet, there were no feelings whatsoever, you dealt with your problem and now it is a thing of the past—except for the bump it’s going to leave.

But what if that mosquito was a boyfriend or a girlfriend? What if that bite was an STD or an emptied bank account. You can’t just squash your ex…. Well you could, but I wouldn’t advise it. Comparing an emptied bank account to a mosquito bite is a very poor comparison but I wanted to make a point. And my point is that it is easy to put behind small hurts—but big hurts?

Not so much.

Yet the same way we handle the mosquito bite is the way we need to handle our past hurt. We put it behind us. How do we do it? We forgive. How do we forgive? It’s complicated but possible. And forgiveness of others can only happen if you forgive yourself. That being said, if you have forgiven yourself then here are three things that I apply to my life (in no particular order) to help me forgive:

1.       Just do it.

Yes, this is my personal preferred method of forgiveness. I just do it. It is a mindset. I don’t see it as something that I should do, but as something that I have to do. Why? Because if I don’t I am the one that is going to pay for it. I am not going to be victimized twice by anyone. I am victimized once, when they commit the crime and then secondly when I lose sleep or my health, because I can’t forgive them.

2.       Don’t try to forget but…

Treat them like you forgot. This is only something that is an issue if you have to deal with the person periodically. Don’t forget what they did, that is downright dangerous, but treat them like you forgot. After all, you will probably have to interact with this person in some form for the sake of someone or something important to you. Put away angry thoughts directed toward that person and keep them a safe distance away. You can’t really forgive or interact with anyone well, if you are thinking about stabbing them in the eye. Also, back to forgiving yourself, you should also treat YOURSELF as if you forgot. Yes, I know that it sounds odd, but consider doing/not doing the following:

a.       Don’t keep bringing  up the story. You may not realize it but every time you bring it up, you are bringing yourself right back to the pain and as long as you keep doing this, you will never heal.

b.      Don’t live your life as if you are destined to get hurt the same way by a different person or thing. You end up living a life of imprisonment and in a way you imprison the good people around you. I have to be honest. I have spent a lot of hours with past girlfriends paying for what an ex-boyfriend did.

c.       Do learn how to balance trust with wisdom. Yes, I hear you. You didn’t do anything wrong. I believe you, but you have to take your life in your own hands. Learn whom to trust and whom not to trust. Once you do this, you will have the confidence to move on and you will be essentially treating yourself as if you forgot.

3.       And finally—

Get justice. No, I am not talking about revenge. I am talking about closure, which could range from confronting the person to ensuring that they pay for their crime. Now here is where you have to weigh the cost. Look, if the person you want to confront is psycho; then don’t confront them. At the very least that person may try to twist things and make you feel like it was ALL your fault. If there was an illegal crime against you, take whatever evidence you have to the police and put it in the hands of the law. Me personally, my greatest act of justice is to live. Live a happy productive life, so that the person that harmed me would know that in the scheme of things their existence was only a small obstacle.

You will notice that I didn’t mention prayer or praying to have your anger or even hatred removed. I believe in the power of prayer. But I also believe that prayer with actions is very effective. In other words, sometimes God will not remove your mountain, but if that is the case, he will surely give you the strength to climb it.