Maiden Voyage

Hey folks!

This is my first post, and my first Throwback Thursday. I don’t plan to tie myself to doing TBT every Thursday, but these event-type weekday-centered posts are kinda cool I think. So you’ll probably see them cropping up around here. 😉

When I first started writing, it was an Affair. Just booting up the computer took an eon, and if you wanted to do anything at all on said computer, you had to push and toggle and poke and shake every button, lever, device, trigger, or anything that looked like it might do something. And when you did get to working, your work space usually ended up looking like this…

(Remember those days?)

And pushing the keys on that Keyboard was like, herculean? Especially when you’re 9…

Or how about ye olde CD caddies…

Or the 6 inch monitors…

And all the cords…

And did I mention the buttons?

At almost-10, I remember the thrill, the exhilaration of booting up that contraption and at last staring at a blank Word document, setting out on my Maiden Voyage of writing. I was facing for the first time the question all writers ask of themselves and that would shadow me for years after: “What shall I write today?”

And I wrote. I had written only one story before (The Adventures of Ellie and Jane… see My Writing Journey), and that had mostly been dictated to a sister. Now, freelancer to the heart, I was on my own. And I wrote this:

Prairie Meadow

Once upon a time there was a girl, and she had a cat, and the cat’s name was Esther.  The girl’s name was Mercy, and she looked like this: brown hair, green eyes, green dress, black shoes, and a purple bow in her hair.  The cat was a white fluffy cat.  The cat’s eyes were brown.  They were very happy until the storm.

 

The storm was a blizzard that had just struck that city.  Now Mercy was left alone with Esther. Mercy’s parents had died in the storm.  “Esther, with me,” said Mercy and they went their way.  (Their house was destroyed.)

 

The start was rough but after awhile their feet got use too it.  Soon they came to a meadow in the prairie.  It had grass, but mostly flowers.  There were beautiful trees too and everything was wet with dew.  But they were so tired that did not notice all of these pretty things and almost fell asleep walking.

                                             * * * * *

In the morning, they found themselves on the flowers, in a puddle of sunshine.  Mercy looked up from the ground, and saw the very house they were looking for!  Their aunt and uncle’s house!  And we can truly say that they lived happily ever after.

And it was awesome.

So.

I think it’s good to remember our roots. To look back and see where we came from. Not only does it give you a good laugh (go ahead, I seriously don’t mind), but it reminds us how far we’ve come.

Like the ancient computer.

And the, um, story. (No words)

I’m grateful for those days. Grateful for how they shaped me. But it’s still fun to look back and laugh. And seriously, Prairie Meadow was awesome. It was more than cool. It was like, the bomb. Wow. Okayokayokay, I was young.. and maybe naïve. But it’s my roots, and it’s where I came from.

Thanks for sharing my laugh!

~ Kat

What are your roots? Do you remember your Maiden Voyage?