Household Tips (Continued)

Paper or Plastic? ~~

   Re-use your Wal-Mart or grocery store plastic bags as wastebasket liners. 

   Use them also to drop kitty poop into when you’re cleaning litter pans, tie the sides together and drop in the garbage. Note: an old coffee can into which you’ve first stuffed the bag makes it easier for you.  Just a suggestion here: Are you tired of buying plastic litter scoops because they break so easily?  Well, then slip by the Goodwill or Salvation Army store and look in the cooking utensils for a metal slotted spoon or fry scoop. These cost less than that plastic piece of crap and will last a thousand times longer!  Also, those large storage boxes with the lids at Wal-Mart make much better litter boxes than those flimsy pieces of junk you buy for that purpose. Use the lid turned upside down under the box to catch excess litter.

   Keep a bag by your dryer and drop the lint from your basket into it and save for the birds.  Keep a plastic mesh bags like those used for oranges and stuff the lint inside; hand on a limb outside. Birds love to pluck the lint out and use it for their nests. Side note: Save the shells from your boiled eggs and put them in a little dish to set outside for the birds. They love it!

   Painting and don’t have time to clean the brush?  Put it in a plastic bag and twist closed.

   Spray cooking oil on your cast iron cookware, wrap it in a plastic bag and store.

   Keep a bag or two by your backdoor during the winter. Put your muddy or wet shoes inside.

* * * * *

   Grandma’s Frozen Treat ~~ I started this when I was first married and now my idea has gone through hubby to sons to grandkiddies. I make what are called scrapies for snacks and they are much cheaper than popsicles. Buy two 24 oz containers of fruit drink mix—one lemonade and one whatever other flavor you like. In a gallon pitcher pour half of each container and mix thoroughly with water. Pour into ice cube trays and freeze. When frozen run a sharp knife down the middle of each to halve, pop them out and put them into a tall glass. No mess popsicles. You can run them through your blender to make slushies. Suggestion: Even though cheap ice cube trays are what most people would use (I use the Tupperware kind with lids because they are a snap to fill), consider using the fancy ones that make shapes for special occasions like kids’ birthday parties, etc.  You can find hearts, stars, seashells…a nice variety at http://www.abestkitchen.com/store/ice-cube-trays.html .

* * * * *

   Got a mouse problem in your pantry?  Or just need a better place to store bags and boxes of food like gravy mixes, rice, pastas, etc?  Then purchase one of the three-compartment rolling carts that Wal-Mart always has on sale. The pullout drawers are ideal for storing things pesky four-legged creatures love to nibble on. Use one drawer for your bag stuff like gravies, taco mix, etc.; one for bags and boxes of pasta or rice; and the bottom one for boxes of food like Hamburger Helper. The little cheap plastic trays Wally World also sells is a great way to keep your items filed. Gravies in one, taco seasoning in another, cornbread mix in a third.  Handy and easy since you can roll it. I have one in my office in which I store envelopes, report covers, mailing supplies, and extra file folders. I use one of the smaller three-drawer varieties on the counter top beside the toaster. I put PopTarts in one drawer, instant oatmeal in another, and the top drawer has hot chocolate and spiced cider envelopes.

* * * * *

   And Away We Go! ~~ The little plastic pencil cases that come in all different colors are ideal for storing in your glove compartment or car. Use one for aspirin, eye drops, lip balm, any kind of OTC medicine you use regularly. Use another for a pair of re-closable salt and pepper shakers, extra sugar packets from fast food restaurants, stirrers, straws, a baggy of Creamora, a baggy of ketchup and/or mustard or barbeque packets for when you’re on the road. Store them under the front passenger seat if your glove compartment is too small or too full.  Use still another for pens, pads, stamps, envelopes, a deck of cards, postcards, etc.  You can even carry them all in a shopping bag tossed in the trunk, using a different color for different categories. Don’t forget an oversized one for maps!

Charlee Boyette-Compo is a multi-published author specializing in fantasy.

The Seeker (continued)

She stopped short. She was deliberately not looking at him!

Angry with herself for her juvenile actions, Ilyse turned and sought him out, just to prove to herself that she was woman enough to handle this sizzling attraction toward a well-developed, handsome male. Her jaw dropped.

He was standing with his back to her, arms stretched over his head as he worked the kinks out of his body. His skin gleamed white under the bright electric light. His muscles flexed with his movements, bunching and rippling.

Her mouth went dry. He was totally, gloriously naked in her living room, except for that tiny patch of cloth that served as his briefs. 

He turned around and spotted her. “I hope you don’t mind.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “I took your word for it.”

“No, uh...” Her tongue cleaved to the roof of her mouth. She tried to stay focused on his face, but her gaze moved inexorably southward. His briefs were totally inadequate. Even from across the room, heat assailed her, stirring up the hunger that had long lain dormant within. 

Tension thickened the atmosphere. She knew the moment he felt it. It was there in the sudden alertness of his body, in the keen gaze of his eyes as he looked back at her.

“I, uh, I’ll get you some clothes.” 

She turned to flee.

“Wait!”

For the life of her, she couldn’t make her feet move. She turned back slowly and watched him walk toward her, his eyes burning with blue fire. Heat emanated from his body in waves that slammed against her. She sucked in her breath.

He stopped in front of her, gazing down at her with such intensity that she trembled, a fine trembling that started from somewhere deep inside her. His smell assaulted her, surrounding her with himself. His hand curled against her cheek, a hot brand that marked her as his.

“I never expected this.” His head bent low. “This will certainly… complicate things…”

His lips seared her flesh. She leaned into the kiss, ravenous for more. His skin burned under her fingertips, flaming with the same degree of heat as when she had touched him before…

Wait. Something’s wrong. The vague sense of unease that had been niggling at the back of her mind from the time she had opened the door intensified. He was warm, too warm…

She tore her mouth away. “You’re not… wet.” The accusation came out in gasps. 

“’Course.” His voice was muffled against her neck. “Dried off…”

Delicious tremors slid down her spine. His arms were enclosed around her in a protective circle, his hands linked together at the small of her back. She could have broken free if she wanted. 

If she wanted…

He was making it hard for her to think. But she was on to something important, she knew she was…

With great effort, she pushed him away. He fell back, staggering. After catching his balance, he moved in her direction.

“No!  I meant…” She scuttled backward several steps. He stopped. “You’re too warm, even when you first came in from the storm. You shouldn’t have been! Not in your condition, looking like a drowned rat. You were wet, yes, soaked through even, but you weren’t cold.” She saw chagrin in the blue depths of his eyes. Her eyes widened as something occurred to her. “You never shivered.”

He looked back at her warily. “I can explain – ”

“I don’t even know who you are.” She started to tremble uncontrollably.

“Lysander.” He moved toward her. “My name’s Lysander.”

“No!” Ilyse almost shrieked in her panic. She could not afford for him to be near her. She couldn’t think. It was what had happened. He had so drugged her senses that she hadn’t been aware of the irregularities that were there before her eyes. “Stay there!”

“Okay, okay.” He held up both hands. “Calm down. I won’t hurt you.”

Her mind pieced the puzzle together. “You’re one of them, aren’t you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not a fool, wizard.” Ilyse spat out the last word.

A streak of pain crossed his face. “You hate us.” 

“You shouldn’t have used your magic to keep yourself warm.” She laughed, mirthless. “You might have gotten what you wanted then.”

“I didn’t come here for sex.”

Embarrassment burned the tip of her ears. She turned belligerent. “What do you want then? Did anyone follow you?”

A stern look stole over his face, making him look years older, commanding and firm. “You don’t have to worry. I made sure I wasn’t followed.”

“If you placed us in danger…”

“Us?” An eyebrow rose in question.

She hesitated. “My daughter.”

He went still. “You have a daughter?”

“You mean you didn’t know?” Her voice mocked him. “Don’t your powers allow you to read people’s minds, to delve into their past?”

“I don’t have that kind of power.” He paused. His face was blank as he asked, “Your husband?”

Ilyse copied the expression on his face. “I don’t want to talk about him.” She changed the subject. “You haven’t told me why you’re here.”

“I’m a Seeker; my magic allows me to search out those with the gifts.”

She was afraid to ask the question, but something compelled her mouth to open. “And…?” 

“Whoever called me is very gifted. I heard the call from thousands of miles away, which is why I came.” A grave and solemn look stole over his face. “It’s not you.”

Denial came swift.  “No!” The word burst out from her. Fear slammed into her guts, almost doubling her over.

“Your daughter’s gift is probably one of the strongest that I’ve encountered since I attained my Master status two years ago—”

“No! I won’t allow it, I won’t!”

“She won’t come to harm, I guarantee you that. We have very good teachers at the Academy. She needs to learn how to use her gifts properly, to—”

“I don’t want her to become a wizard or witch or sorceress or any damn thing you people have in mind for her!” Ilyse slid down onto the floor and pulled her knees up to her chest. Sobs wracked her tiny frame. “I don’t want her to… die.” 

He sat beside her and pulled her into his arms. “She won’t die, you fool!” he said in a rough whisper. He shook her a little. “What she has is a gift, a great heritage. It would be a shame if she wouldn’t be able to harness its full power and—”

“No…” she wept. “There are people who make it their full time job… to hunt down anyone who used even a touch of magic. I don’t… I don’t want to lose her!”

His arms tightened around her. “So you’d rather she bury her gifts and deny the very essence of her existence?”

A picture of her daughter’s angelic face came to mind. “Yes!” Ilyse wrenched herself out of his arms and stood up. She wiped the tears with the back of her hands and glared down at him.  “If it will keep her safe!”

He moved to stand beside her. “Where’s the fairness in that, I ask you?” His face was fierce with the force of his conviction. “Doesn’t your child have the right to choose which path she wants to take? What right do you have to do that for her?”

She squelched any possible thoughts of the injustice she was doing to her daughter. Ilyse had her child’s best interests at heart. Damn this man for making her think otherwise! “By my right as her mother! She doesn’t have any choice but to obey my decision!”

“You are being so unreasonable!” he shot back.

“I’ll take that as my maternal right!”

He controlled his temper with effort. “All right, how about you call her in here and we ask her to choose?”

A flare of triumph burned through her. “How can she, when she’s only 4 months old?”

“Four months?” His jaw dropped. “She is strong. Very strong. By God, what a god-awful waste of talent and power if left untrained.”

“I don’t care!”

“All right.” If she thought he was giving up, she was wrong. “How about if I come back again in a few years and – ”

“No! Leave us alone!”

“Open your mind, woman, think!” Desperation made his voice thick. He grasped her by the shoulders and shook her a little. “Even if she didn’t attend the academy, her talent would manifest sooner or later, and then people would know what she is. In a fit of anger, she may cause the light bulb to burst into a million pieces and the television to go haywire. The worst thing is, what if you have guests around at that time? What then?” His eyes burned fiercely into hers. “Don’t you see? Untrained, she would be in much greater danger than if she were taught to control and conceal her gifts.”

“I’ll hide her away.” Her voice was equally fierce. “She’ll see no one except me!”

“And when she’s grown up?” You cannot hide her forever. 

Damn him! She didn’t want to have to think about that now. “I’ll do what I must do when the time comes.”

“Stubborn woman.” Grudging admiration tinged his tone. He sighed. “Just make sure the wrong people don’t find you next.”

“Not if you don’t leave a trail.”

“I didn’t. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways of sniffing you out.” He didn’t seem to be expecting her to reply, for his brows were furrowed in thought. “I suppose…” He hesitated. “There can be no us either.” 

She opened her mouth, and then shut it close. Unbidden, tears came to her eyes. Fragments of the tantalizing passion that had flared between them drifted through her soul and the equally maddening glimpse of what-ifs floated through her mind. Really, what could she answer to that? 

"Then," he paused and touched her cheek in a light caress, "I bid you goodbye."

Ilyse watched in silence as he pulled on his clothes. They were still wet, and they clung to his body. It would seem that his magic didn't extend to drying his clothes. Or maybe, he didn't want to create a magic trail that would lead back to her, as what would happen should he use his gift.

At the door, he hesitated. He turned and looked back at her, as if waiting for her to say something... to make him stay...

Yet, her lips were glued together. It was only when the door shut behind him that she whispered, "Goodbye... Lysander.”

Copyright 2007, thesamhellion.com