February 2021 – H.J VandeRiet

Creation: Moving Forward and Leaving Behind

A Creation based on the first four Writing Prompts, by H.J VandeRiet

My feet sink into the soft sand, toes burrowed beneath the grains. The waves rush up the beach and stop just a few feet short of where I stand, foamy bubbles dissipating, leaving green slimy seaweed behind. The salty smell is strong today, and somewhere in the distance I hear kids laughing, adults calling out to them…something about keeping close to the beach chairs. That life feels distant, the sounds of the voices mere background noise to the screaming in my mind.

My feet haven’t touched the ocean in ten years. Not since she disappeared beneath the surface and never emerged, since dad ran out into the water after her, shouting her name, and I stood paralyzed, watching it all unfold. I was a kid, picking up seashells out of the sand, and somehow I knew I had failed her. I was told to watch her, told to protect her. To make sure she didn’t wander too close. I froze, and have frozen ever since, too afraid to move forward because of what I may leave behind. Can I set that burden down? Can I leave it here on this beach where that one moment set fire to the rest of my life?

I look over at my backpack sitting in the sand, and think about the plane ticket inside it. A one way ticket to Mexico, where I will start to walk across the world. The smell of the burgers on the boardwalk call me, but I cross my arms and stay still, fixating my eye back on the ocean waves, moving back and forth, back and forth. The pull of the ocean is strong, and the rush of it sometimes stronger. What will I allow to pull me, to push me? What will define me.

I said goodbye to my dad at his grave yesterday, telling him that I didn’t think I would ever return. I explained that without him, there was nothing left for me here, no roots to keep me tethered, and that if I was going to be alone, then I was going to make the most of it. That I had allowed myself to be weighed down by his guilt, and my own.

“I love you dad,” I whisper to myself, wiping my eyes, hoping no one else on the beach sees me standing here crying, “I love you Moxie. I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”

I chuckle to myself, thinking of Moxie with her pigtails and boy shorts, throwing sand in the air and allowing it to fall around her. Dad would shout at her to quit it, but she loved the dirt. She loved the earth. He could never keep her totally clean for long. She was fearless.

I long to be fearless. And as I look to the ocean I know deep down that the only way to be truly fearless is to take the step. Don’t think, don’t question…just do. How long have I carried the weight of that day, allowing it to hold me still.

I lean down and reach into my bag. I take out my iPod and earbuds, and put them in. I pull up a song my dad would play for me: Just Be Held. I play it, and listen to the words, allowing them to take root in my heart for the first time. The ocean blurs behind my tears, and I reach down into my bag again, taking out five tiny seashells, worn with age.

I take the first one into my hand and pull my arm back, hurling it into the ocean. An exasperated sob escapes me as I pull back with the second one, and chuck it. It flies far, too far for me to see, and disappears. I laugh as I pull back with the third and send it away, cast away all my fears, all my pain, all my doubts.

The fourth one sails into the air and lands somewhere among an encroaching wave. I drop my hand to my side, the fifth one nestled in my palm. The water reaches for my toes, and this time touches them, cold and wet, and recedes again. I look at the seashell, smile, and toss it onto the beach.

For more content, follow and like H.J VandeRiet on Facebook to see our weekly Coffee Talk live-streams, keep up on Otherside news, and see other people’s writing creations from the prompts. You can also follow me on Instagram at H.J VandeRiet

Writing Prompt 4: You Probably Think This Song Is About You

Okay, so big news! Otherside: The Serenity has an official release date. On April 24th, 2021 you will be able to get it on Amazon, either for Kindle download or in paperback. Eventually, I’m hoping to get it in other places like Barnes and Noble, but for now, we stick with the monolith that is Amazon.

I AM SO EXCITED!!!! I’m not sure I can convey how big of a deal this is for me. I’ve literally been dreaming of being published since I was like 10 years old. I remember reading “Publishing for Dummies” when I was about 12, and mind you, this is pre-internet days people. Back when you had to snail-mail your manuscript to some agent whose name you found in a book somewhere, or in the yellow pages, and hope that they pick yours to send on to a publisher. Now all we do is set up an account on Amazon, upload our manuscript with a decent looking cover and millions of people can potentially read your book.

It’s intense, to say the least.

But in the meantime, keep following my social media for those special sneak peek bits of the book every Thursday and Friday, up until the release date. AND come by my Facebook page on Tuesdays when I do my Facebook Live videos. I literally sit there and talk to nobody for like seven minutes, so it would be nice if someone popped in to say hello and asked me a question like, “What’s your favorite type of cheese?” or “How do you deal with crippling procrastination as a writer?” And bring coffee because I want to imagine I’m sitting with you in a coffee shop.

NOW: ONTO THE WRITING PROMPT, REMEMBER TO FREE-WRITE INITIALLY TO GET YOUR INSPIRATION GOING, AND THEN TURN THAT FREE-WRITING INTO 1-2 PAGES OF FICTION.

What song old or new do you think could have been written about you and why?

For more content, follow and like H.J VandeRiet on Facebook to see my weekly Coffee Talk live-streams, keep up on Otherside news, and see other people’s writing creations from the prompts. You can also follow me on Instagram at H.J VandeRiet.

Writing Prompt 3: You Won’t Know If You Don’t Try

Hey remember last week when I said I’d posted my creations for you to read? Turns out I was kidding, I haven’t posted any creations yet. I figure I’ll eventually segue into some kind of coffee-induced mania where I end up writing prolifically and posting like…10 creations in one day, so be ready for that when it happens.

It turns out life gets in the way of writing about 90% of the time, but I’m doing what I can, when I can. Plus, I’m not even really sure how many people are actually reading these anyway, so I could just be talking to myself.

If you follow me on social media, keep up with the posts on Thursdays and Fridays of the characters, along with short scenes from Otherside: The Serenity. I will be posting these up until the release date, sometime in April.

Now: Onto the Writing Prompt, which if you’re like me, you’ll get to when you feel like it. Remember to free-write initially to get your inspiration going, and then turn that free-writing into 1-2 pages of fiction.

What is something that you want to learn but are too afraid to try?

For more content, like H.J VandeRiet on Facebook to see our weekly Coffee Talk live-streams, keep up on Otherside news, and see other people’s writing creations from the prompts. You can also follow me on Instagram at H.J VandeRiet

Writing Prompt 2: The Perfect Summer

The first week of writing prompts is in the bag! I’ve shared my creation based on the first one, and I hope you enjoyed it.

It’s good to be writing again. I’ve been working on getting my book published for so long that I haven’t had much of a chance to sit and actually write. These prompts and this community are giving me more motivation to do so, and I love that.

The final edit of Otherside: The Serenity is done, and I will be posting a release date shortly. You will also be able to pre-order it! I’m excited to introduce the characters in the book each Wednesday and Friday. I have a great amount of love for each of them, and I sincerely hope you love them too.

Now: Onto the Writing Prompt. Remember to free-write initially to get your inspiration going, and then turn that free-writing into 1-2 pages of fiction.

What is your idea of a perfect summer?

Introductions & Writing Prompts: Why they Help

Welcome to the first post on the H.J VandeRiet site. If you’re here, it’s because like me, you love to write, and you love to read. Maybe you’ve subscribed to my email series, where you’ll receive the weekly writing prompt the week before I post my own creation here, allowing you time to craft a story, and post it to the Facebook group. Or, maybe you just wandered down a writing rabbit hole and found yourself here (I promise, there are no Evil Queens or Mad Hatters…there may be a Cheshire Cat wandering around though).

I started writing when I was nine years old, and what prompted me to do so was reading my father’s first short story: Stoney Star: Death to the Rich. He wrote it when he was quite young and VERY into James Bond; basically it was James Bond meets the Hardy Boys, only Stoney Star didn’t maul women on a regular basis, as I recall.

Anyway, I started writing, and I have written semi-consistently though not really ever since. Life happens, and as such, I don’t write every single day *GASP* I know this is blasphemy, and I’m sure there will be other professional writers out there waiting in the wings to stone me, but contrary to what a lot of them say, I don’t believe you have to write EVERY SINGLE DAY to be a good writer. Sure, it helps, certainly is good to clean the pipes. But what makes a good writer is a good idea, good execution, and strong sense of character, IMHO.

I like to free-write, personally. This is how I often come up with my best ideas. I find a prompt, and just start writing, and usually what comes out is mostly crap, but occasionally there’s a nugget of something worthwhile in the crap, so I take that out and polish it up, and before you know it, I have a piece featured somewhere I’ll never make money with, but then, writing is about A LOT more than aspiring to be Scrooge McDuck swimming in coins.

Basically, free-writing with or without a prompt allows me to get rid of the noise in my brain so I can write something worthwhile (there’s a few voices talking at once in there, but only two of them speak English).

But, seeing as I’m publishing my first novel (after coming to terms with my crippling sense of Imposter Syndrome), I thought it might be fun to give something back for free here on the site. And so, the Weekly Writing Prompts will commence.

Thank you for being here, and for supporting the book. It has been my lifelong dream to be published.

PS: Since you sat through all that, it’s only fair you get to see the first Writing Prompt. So, here you go

Free-write a response to this writing prompt, and then turn that into a short-story, 1-2 pages in length.

If you could book a flight tomorrow for anywhere in the world, where would you go, and why?