Tanith's Escapades- Infuriatingly Distracting...

Tanith leaned over the guitar, fingers strumming lightly. the hollow wood quivered at the sound, echoing dryly against the peeling fence.
Laying her face on the edge, Tanith could feel the music against her skin; no beat, just indistinct melody. She sat in contentment, pretending everthing was as perfect as a melody.

Gravel crunched underfoot, and a pair of scuffed blue sneakers shuffled into view. Tanith eyed the sneakers with resignation
"Hi Tan," said Tomas, testing the waters apprehensively,
"mmmmm?" it was as good a reply as any.

Tomas shifted his weight from one foot to the other in that infuriatingly distracting way of his;
"I didn't know you played guitar" -what a stupid thing to say, why did i say that??- Tom's brain fizzled it's dissaproval.
Tanith's face showed hers.
"I hardly ever do... not that you'd think to ask."

Tom looked hurt, or at least, tried to look hurt. "Look, it didn't even have anything do do with me anyway!"
"Sure" -Tanith looked unconvinced
Irritation flashed through Tom's brain- "I'm telling you, Shannon's been picking on Erin for over a month now, and you didn't even bother to notice!"

"So explain to me why she says it was you." Tanith snarled though clenched teeth

Tom was taken aback. He knew Tanith was protective of Erin, but to completely disown him because she suspected he was involved?! It was maddeness! -no,- his brain corrected him dryly, -it was "Tanith"-
Tom silently agreed, What was maddness was to try and talk to Tanith just now.

"Ask Shannon" Tom told her shortly, then turned on his heel and crunched away.

Tanith sighed and leaned into the guitar, her fingers unconsciously finding the strings.
After a minute or two of thought, Tanith pulled a sour face; She needed to have a little talk with Shannon, it seemed...

-
© Leah Petts, 26.02.2009

Tanith's Escapades- the silent battle for the shiny iPod.

Tomas absently leaned over and handed Tanith half a sandwich, full attention given to the iPod screen.
His eyes were all squinched up in the afternoon sun, and his neon hair lit up like the vegas strip under the glare.
Tanith smiled appreciatively, and took the sandwich from Tom. Her eyes not moving from the pages of her novel.

Erin sat in the tree Tom and Tan were sitting under, glad of the shade. Watching the two she Resisted the urge to grimace.
And to think those two started off practically hating each other.
She shook her head in disbelief, lost her balance, and had to steady herself by clinging desperatley onto the branch in front of her.

Tanith glanced up, squinting in the glare,
"Hey Erin, how about a little personal time eh?"
Erin giggled, and clumsily made her way down, a reply on her tongue faster than a cricketer's reation time.
"yeah yeah, i'll leave you two lovebirds alone shall I? Geez! and you wonder why i keep an eye on ya!"

Tom pulled a speaker from somewhere in his curly fluro mop and looked over at Erin
"Ta Ezza." he noted
With that Erin swished away, turning only to stick out her tongue at the two.

"hmmmm" Tanith said.
"What's 'hmm' Tan?" Tomas enquired, and Tanith made a cross-eyed face at him.
"oh, nothing" she giggled, stealing the speaker no longer in Tom's brain, and sticking it into her ear.
'Gone Away' by the Offspring blared in to her brain, and Tantih took a bite out of the sandwich.

"Um, Tom?"
Thomas shifted to face Tanith, "mmm?"
"why is the sandwhich squashed?"

Tom paused the song and took a chomp of his half of the sandwich.
"well waddaya know," he noted sarcastically "it IS squashed! but Tan, I thought you liked them squashed"

Tanith regarded him for a moment and inclined her head,
"you know me too well, Cooper"
Tom stifled a laugh, and said through a mouthful of stras-and-sauce,
"I suppose you'll just have to kill me now, I know too much!"
Tanith leaned over Tom and un-paused the song
"dont give me ideas"

Tom gently took the speaker from her ear and replaced it in his own.
"oh, don't worry, I wont."

Tanith smiled.
-

copywrite, Leah Petts, 14.11.08

Poets, Poetry, and Bob.

Howdy Gang,

I've been thinking today about Poetry, which I absolutely love, but everytime I mention to somebody, they seen to file me away as some kind of "weirdo"

So here's my challenge, anybody got another word for "poem" ...and I've already tried "verse," nobody knows what I'm talking about.

So here's my annoyance written in the cause of my annoyance for those with as warped a sense of humor:

-
Bob


"Poem" is an ugly word,
though not its meaning by any accord,

It tumbles so clumsily from the tongue,
too corny, too crude to adore.

And "poet," corrupted by stereotype,
has me loath to share my craft,

"Why, look at that weird "poet" kid,"
the fear that my peers will laugh.

I strive to find another word,
to descibe a paragraph in verse,

But not a single syllable I've heard,
that can prove my search of worth.

I can't say I don't like "poems,"
i've written my share, 'tis true

But I'm no "poet" clad in black,
no stereotype, thankyou.

How is it such freedom named ugly?
this plight how its made my head throb,

That's it! I'm sick of this stupid quest!
i'll name my poems Bob!



© Leah Petts. 9th August ‘08
-
-

Okay, so not that funny.
But I'm bored of Poems, so my question is,
does anybody like my Bob?

Cheers,
Leah Mae.

Tanith's Escapades- War on Tofu.

Last week a stranger with unruly orange curls and a surprised expression wandered into Tanith's Classroom during form assembly.
Shannon giggled and elbowed Tanith in the ribs. Yup, no doubt about it now, Thought Tanith grimly, New Guy.
The New Guy's name was Tomas. Tomas Cooper.

He had a locker above Tanith's, and was forever standing on her stuff.
Not that he meant to of course, but the fact still remained that Tanith was eating a slightly flatter lunch than ususal. (with the exception, perhaps, of last Thusrday)

Under the trees behind the Music Rooms, Tanith and Erin (who'd declared war on her mother's tofu) were relishing the last of the accidently-molested stras-and-sauce sandwich, and mulling over one of their old arguments about the school's mobile-phone policy; when the hairs on the back of Tanith's neck prickled.

She turned around to find herself nose-to-nose with none other than the sandwich-molester himself, Tomas Cooper.
Damn, thought Tanith immediatley.
Erin feined interest in some recent tree graffiti, and Tanith forced a smile,
"Hi, Tom what brings you here?" and how the hell did you find out where I hang? her brain hummed with impatience;

Tomas shifted his weight uncomfortably, and dropped a crumpled peice of paper into Tanith's open lunchbox.
"This got mixed up in my stuff"

Tanith unfolded the paper, it'd been torn out of an exercise book, and was the note Shannon had passed to Tanith in math today, the one about Shannon's crush.
Uh oh. Had he read it?

"You Didn't read this did you?"
"Huh?" -mental headslap! was this guy dumb? best talk slowly...
"I said, Tomas, Did. You. Read This. Note?"

the sandwich-squasher shook his fuzzy neon head vigorously
"Well... only to find out whose it was, I didn't know if it was important"

Tanith's brain twanged angrily, Nagh! wrong answer!
Tanith opened her mouth to say something indelicate, and Erin, having recognized the alarm bells, interjected quickly,

"Thanks for finding it Tomas, We'll make sure it gets back to Shannon safely"
"No big" came the distracted reply, "later Erin, see ya, Tanith"
Go away
Erin made one of those descreet "WELL?" motions at Tanith, and a grudging "see ya" grated out, as the note-reading-sandwich-squisher rounded the corner with a vague wave, and dissapeared out of sight.

Erin regarded Tanith curiously,
"he's really not that bad you know"
"humph. . ."

"he did mean well you know, bringing back the note"
"humph. . ."

"you're sulking again, aren't you?" Erin seemed genuinley concerned,
Hmmmmm. "Yup. . ."

"did you want me to leave you alone for a while?"
You guessed 'er Chester, Tanith thought loudly.

Erin made a face, "who you callin' Chester?"
Oops
"Uh Huh, and?"
Friends, eugh! . . .Double Oops.

-
-


© Leah Petts. 3rd May ‘08

Mangling the Language with Tanith...

Howdy there Y'all!

Y'know, you people can be awfully stingy with the comments sometimes!
Why, I've been on here since March and absolutley nobody bothered to let me know what they thought about my drivel. (and I'd brought out my special drivel just for the occasion too!)

A thought occurs... is it just me or have words become cheap these days?
What? an example? well, if you insist.
E.g in the time when calligraphy stood in for normal handwriting, letters would be agonised over -polished 'til they shone-
Toady, all you need to do is learn how to type and you can spew out any kind of garbled nonsense!

" Iffin' yeh tried 't read this 'ere awl the time, ye'd be a-windin' up wif the frightfuwl-est o' head-akes don't ya know there dorlin'! "

Certainly is easy to mangle the language eh? ...I'll tell you what, I'll ask Tanith.

-Whaddya you think-ish abou' this 'ere mess eh, Tanith?

- Did you really have to drag me into this? I mean it's peculiar enough being a figment of someones imagination but REALLY! this is only one step from talking to yourself!
You really want my opinion? I think you're crazy, THATS what I think!

-Why Tanith, what a thing to say!

**indelicate sound** go away, I'm brooding.

-Right you! If thats the way you want it fine!
Shall I grant you an indulgence too while I'm at it?- In case you should think of any more curse words?

I'm not going to dignify that with an answer Leah!

... all right everyone, Missy Mae's having a grouching moment, now let's all back away slowly
-no sudden movements, if you take my meaning-

I'll get you for this Tanith! you'll be eating snails in my next entry, Mark my words.

(insert dry chuckle here) Consider them marked, oh glorious leader.

Tanith!!!

Enjoy your day Houston,
This is Tanith, signing off!

-
-

*Humph*

Tanith's Escapades- Only Tea, a Disaster Indeed.

Winter, Tanith decided, was a time for contemplation- not action.
Mainly because so many people tended to sleep-in during winter.
People like Tanith.

Which, of course, begs the reason for why she's up so early on a Sunday.
Simple, it was all Erin's idea; and Erin was one of those people who didn't sleep-in.
In Tanith's opinion this made her an anomaly in the deepest sense of the word, not that she'd tell Erin this.

So here she was, with Erin the early-bird, at nine o'clock on a Sunday, visiting Erin's batty old Aunt Margaret.
Without coffee. only Tea. Disaster.

And here, at Erin's request, was Aunt Magaret, shuffling a deck of dog-eared TAROT cards.
Aunt Margaret was a dumpy little lady with a bright round face, frizzy brown hair and luminous red lipstick, most of which had been transferred to the tea-cup.

Margaret laid out the cards in a pattern that escaped Tanith; then turned them over and leaned forward over the cards, clicking her tongue.
five minutes passed without a sound save the clicking.

Tanith looked over at Erin, and made a cross-eyed face.
crazy old bat.
Erin shrugged
whatever.

Tanith turned her attention to Margaret, who was muttering to herself.
A moment or two later the "TAROT master's" eyes widened.

"I'm sorry, Dear" Margaret rasped, gathering up the cards "I think you girls should go now."
Erin thanked her Aunt and they left.

"So what was that about?" Tanith asked Erin after they were out of the earshot of Aunt Margaret.
Erin shrugged, "Either she stuffed up when she laid the cards out, or she read something she didn't want to tell you"
"Oh"

Silence.

After a moment Erin looked over at Tanith, and twirled a finger next to her ear.
Don't worry, she's a crazy old bat.
Tanith rolled her eyes skywards
Whatever.

-
© Leah Petts. 3rd May ‘08

A Poem that I even hate myself.

I don't feel like writing with Tanith today, she's still asleep and frankly I can't be bothered trying to wake up a fictional character.

So I think a poem may be in order, I'll apologise in advance for it.

-
The Faerie Market.

Take your woeful Faerie-blues to market, quick,
If they're stagnant they won't sell at all.
Gather them up in your pockets,
and sit, cross-legged amongst the stalls.

Lay out your wicked Faerie-blues,
they'll need no tag or price.
For no folk will bargain for your blues,
they have their own Faerie-strife.

Wear your patience as a shield,
while your Faeries struggle and scream.
Wait for Nanna Grimm,
To pluck you from your Faerie-dream.

Blindfold your eyes; lest you see her so,
the breeze of memory brushes your face.
With thin fingers she silenced your Faeries,
then, left nothing, not a trace.

The market is gone, like Nanna Grimm,
simply no longer there.
And you are numb without the Faerie-woes,
you so willingly gave her to snare.

From your woeless shell comes and anguished cry,
and Lo, Nanna Grimm appear!
Your Faeries struggle in her grasp,
your Faeries are grey with fear.

But without fear by your side,
the world is icy calm.
You turn your eyes to Nanna Grimm,
you grasp her by the arm.

Nanna Grimm looks down on you,
but without your fear, you cannot quail.
Wordlessly, you open your palm,
with a nod, She returns your Faeries-Frail.

As Nanna Grim begins to fade,
you embrace your dear Faerie-blues.
Never again to be tricked as you have,
Nanna Grimm is now wary of you.

With your woes riding light on your shoulders,
you head from the empty square.
Your blues as they have ever been,
held in check by your Faeries-Fair.

© Leah Petts, 30th March ‘08
-

that was quite an outpouring! (drivel more like)
I'm terribly sorry to anyone who gives a damn, but I'm morally obligated to wrap up this post.
You see, I've let my coffee go cold... (Nnnnnooooooooooooooo!)

Enjoy your day Houston,
this is Little Miss Scribble, signing off!

Tanith's Escapades- A nice Tree like that.

An ageing brown leaf landed resolutley on Tanith's shoulder; Tanith turned her head to look at the grim thing.
"Now why would you want to leave a nice tree like that?" she asked it quietly, glancing at the lovley old Dutch Elm from whence the leaf had come.

Shannon glanced at it too. "Watcha talkin' to a leaf for Tan?" she asked, And Tanith heard the thread of annoyance creep back into her voice.
"Nothing," Tanith sighed, letting her head fall back against the trunk of the tree. She could feel the deep ridges in the bark through her hair.
For the millionth time Tanith wondered why she'd even started talking to Shannon again.

It turned out that Shannon had 'accidently' overheard Erin telling a curious Jaynie Morrison why Shannon hadn't been hanging out with Tanith anymore.
So Shannon, who actually accepted being in the wrong for once, had apologised to Tanith and they'd started hanging out again.

This time Shannon gave Tanith a little more space, but still, Tanith found her company wearing somedays.

Another brownish leaf, evidently deciding to take its chances, landed with a rustle on Tanith's dirty black school-shoes.
Tanith regarded it sadly for a moment- it looked as tired as she felt.
On impulse, Tanith turned to the leaf on her shoulder, "Look!" she demaned of the still leaf angrily, "See what you started!"

Shannon made a choking sound, and Tanith turned quickly to find her old friend doubled over in silent, gasping laughter.
In a moment, a pair of hard brown eyes met a pair of laughing blue. The brown eyes seemed to soften, as Tanith began to tingle with a suppressed giggle.

Finally, with a helpless cry, Tanith joined in.
Their maniacal peals of laughter echoed in an impossible harmony through the trees,
She didn't wonder why anymore.



©Leah Petts, 20th March '08

Tanith's Escapades- Vegitarian food, eh, Erin?

Tanith ate her lunch with Erin today.

It was good, Tanith decided as she bit into her sandwich, (ham & tomato if you were wondering)
when you had other friends to support you when you're fighting with your best friend.

Though since their little screaming match last week (and that saturday detention afterwards when they had been forced to srub graffitied tables together) Tanith & Shannon hardly counted each other as friends anymore.

From Tanith's point of veiw it wasn't hard to see why they'd had such a falling out in the first place. Shannon was the sort of person that constantly needed a gaggle of friends with her to ensure her existance.
Tanith didn't, and though she liked having friends, was perfectly happy to keep her own company once in a while.

And Shannon, who just hadn't understood that Tanith needed her own time once in a while; proceeded to spend every spare moment she had with Tanith, oblivious to Tanith's subtle hints that perhaps Shannon could give her the time on her own that she needed just as much as Shannon needed constant social interaction.

Eventually, Tanith gave up being subtle.
Shannon had not taken it well at all, perceiving Tanith's plea for a little 'down time' as apparent rejection.
And, not understanding what she could have possibly done wrong, came to the conclusion that Tanith was, to use Shannon's phrasing (thought Tanith dryly) a 'heartless bitch'.

She handed the other half of her sandwich to Erin, who had continued to chatter away happily without notice of Tanith's daydream.
Tanith liked Erin, mostly because the were so similar; they both liked friends but didn't need them. Though Erin was somewhat more absent-minded than Tanith.

Tuning into Erin's mostly one-sided conversation at last, She found a question floating around her head and snatched it from the air:

"hey Erin," Tanith asked "aren't you a vegetarian?" looking pointedly at Erin's cheeks, bulging with the last of the sandwich.
Erin grinned thickly at her through a mouthful of ham and tomato,
"only if you talk to my mother."


© Leah Petts, 9th March ‘08

Tanith's Escapades-Screaming matches

If Shannon had wanted to piss Tanith off, then she'd more than got her wish.
That was the very last thing Tanith had wanted to do today of all days.
But then, you can only avoid somebody for so long in a high school as small as hers; and it looked like time was on Shannon's side, from Tanith's point of veiw.

But i'm getting ahead of myself, back to Tanith.

"I have to stop biting my nails" Tanith muttered to herself, anguished at the sight of her jagged digits. not that messy fingernails were to blame for her problems.

Starting high school had not been a big issue until she'd started fighting with Shannon.
at first she'd been glad of the company, but sometimes people are just too different, right?
Besides, after any good screaming match you both deserved a good sulk.

And that was just what she intended to do. sulk.
stowing her bag in her locker, Tanith sunk down on the steps at the back of the LOTE building.
a scuffed MP3 was produced from a pocket and she flicked through to a particualrly angry track she'd made herself in that program, what was it? Tanith frowned, Oh yeah! Garage Band, a Macintosh program.

Why did she have to have such a bad memory? though something in the back of her mind told her that this morning's little incident would not be so easily forgotten.

Roughly dismissing the 'something' back to it's dusty corner, Tanith put her back against the cold blue wall behind her; cranking up the music as loud as she dared.

with a defiant jab of the "repeat" button, Tanith closed her eyes, wishing that the world could be shut out this easily all the time.


© Leah Petts. 4th March ‘08

...And then there was one.

My first post... scary!

I'll get better in time, there's always hope.
...we can hope

Enjoy your day Houston,
Tis is Lil' Miss Scribble, signing off!