From Rockybado 4: Running Up a Hill

David and Brody Ingram sat on the sofa, not saying a word. They knew how their mom was going to respond to their all-nighter. Not that she would at all be mad. However, she knows how they are when it comes to sleep. And these boys need all the sleep they can get.

Their mom sat in the dining room with a cup of tea in one hand and a business journal in another. David and Brody peered over to see that she was there. She had a great appearance; her hair was neat for long and wavy light brown hair, given the fact that she is only four years older than her husband, who is fifty-eight. She wore a blue sweater and blue jeans. 

Mrs. Ingram was definitely ready for the day.

“Did we play video games all night long?” Brody asked.
“I think we did,” David replied.
“I think we stayed up longer last night than we did at school.”
“Oh, when you and your friends would stay up and play video games on Friday nights?”
“Yeah, but last night we didn’t order Chinese or anything,” Brody pointed out.
“We did have baklava, though,” David remarked, trying to lighten the mood.
“Oh yeah. I almost forgot.”
“Do we have anything that we have to do today?”
“I hope not.”
“I hope not either.”

David and Brody definitely could feel their eyelids getting heavy. So, with this in mind, they wanted to say “good morning” to their mom and then head off to bed. They could not remember if they had anything going to today or not. It was Saturday, so no one had to be anywhere today. Which was probably a good thing, given the boys’ circumstance, er….all-nighter.

When the two boys seated themselves at the dining room table, they had an idea that their mom knew they were up to something. Nothing bad, but nothing saintly either. Just the fact that all four boys had basically spent the whole night playing their favorite video games. And that they would have to pay the consequences today. Unless David and Brody headed toward their futons now and slept in until at least one o’clock this afternoon. 

“Good morning, boys,” Mrs. Ingram said as she still sat at the dining room table. She still had with her a cup of tea.
“Morning,” David replied.
“Morning,” Brody responded.
“You guys are still up,” Mrs. Ingram stated.
“We pulled an all-nighter,” David remarked.
“Why?”
“We couldn’t stop playing video games, I guess.”
“We were planning to go to your dad’s parents’ house today.”
“Oh. Whoops.”
“You should go to bed now since we were planning to go over at four o’clock.”

David and Brody headed toward their bedroom. When climbing the stairs, they could feel their weight being brought down by gravity. In their minds, they couldn’t decide whether this meant that they were truly tired, or if they were truly lazy. The two boys couldn’t possibly be lazy. They just wanted their bed, and their bed just wanted them. 

David and Brody finally made it up to their bedroom, and then to their futons. In a matter of minutes, David was out like a lamp. Brody, however, could not go to sleep so quickly. As a matter of fact, it was his pounding heartbeat that was keeping him up. For some very odd reason. Brody walked back downstairs to his mom because he was feeling scared.

“I can’t sleep,” Brody said sleepily.
“No?” Mrs. Ingram asked.
“I feel like my heart’s going to pop out of my chest.”
“I believe you’re really slap happy.” 
“I’m so scared,” Brody remarked as he folded his arms over his chest.
“Your heart’s not going to pop out of your chest,” Mrs. Ingram pointed out.
“I hope not.”
“Believe me. It won’t.”
“Will you make sure?”
“Okay.”

Mrs. Ingram smiled and laughed to herself and put her hand on her son’s chest, so that she could clearly feel his snappy heartbeat. Brody put one of his hand over her hand so that he could have the reassuring feeling that his heart was not actually going to pop out of his chest. To Mrs. Ingram, this was pretty ridiculous. She was wondering why the boys had stayed up so late. She wondering why the boys would do that to themselves, since they are not morning people to begin with.  

​“Is my heart going to pop out of my chest?” Brody asked, even more sleepily than before.
“No, Brody,” Mrs. Ingram replied, quite amused.
“Are you sure?”
“I could feel your heartbeat, so I’m not worried about it.”
“What should I do?” Brody asked. He was completely out of it.
“I think you should try to get some sleep. I am not completely for all-nighters,” his mom stated.
“Why? All-nighters can be fun.”
“Your sleep schedule is destroyed, and you’re not a morning person to begin with.”
“Oh yeah. Right.”
“So, get some sleep!”

It's Haiku Monday.
Thinking about Manhattan.
The crepe, on my mind.

Had it in Boston.
Now I really want to go,
Get it in New York.

Possible road trip?
Planning for San Francisco.
Spring 2-K-18.

Really want a crepe.
Salmon, cream cheese, onions, brah.
Egg and tomato.

Yummy yummy yum.
Pair that with a cup of tea.
Cuz that's my favorite.

What am I thinking?
I am hungry for a crepe.
Time to raid the fridge.

It's Saturday, errbody!

For some people, it's probably kinda nice out. For others, not so nice. Either way, it is still the weekend, and there are so many things to do, depending on the weather. You can go to a local coffee shop, window shop for clothes, try the newest fried lasagna in town, or even dance in your own room. The possibilities are endless.

For everyone.

I got to see a lot of my friends graduate from college this weekend, so I am most definitely happy for them. I know that they will do great things in the near future. We all will.

Now, where was I?

So, with that in mind, I am going to resume talking about some of the people in my writing projects. I am going to start out with The Jazzy Island of Dinosaurs for this weekend, and talk about the other series in the coming weekends.

* Andrew Grzedek, the oldest of the five Grzedek's, moved to Chicago last month with his best friends, Matt Bartz and Jason Lazinski. 
* Caleb Grzedek, the second oldest of the five Grzedek's, lives in Merrillville, Indiana with his friends, Mark Davis and Tad Beruve. They are looking to move to San Francisco next year.
* Adam and Cameron Grzedek, the twins, are spending a month this summer in Spain for fun.
* Alyssa, the youngest of the five Grzedek's, and the only girl, just ended her sophomore year of high school. She plays on the tennis team.
* Kathryn Ashley, one of Caleb's friends and former bandmates, is engaged with twin girls.
* Alessandra Marbanks, Caleb's girlfriend, is looking to go to grad school in San Francisco. She is not quite sure what she is going to study yet.
* Andrew Grzedek is still dating his girlfriend, Eliza Colbert. She lives in Naperville, Illinois.
* Matthew and Harrison McCarthy, the Grzedek's cousins and one of Andrew's former roommates, decided to spend a summer exploring London, Dublin, Paris, and Milan.
* Chris Pelt, Andrew's friend and former roommate, is now in Fort Worth, Texas for a job.
* Alyssa wants to go to college in either California or Florida.

Well, everyone, it's 2017. Good has already happened. Great is going to happen. And the best is yet to come. Whatever our goals are, I know that we can all achieve them. If that means switching jobs, buying a house for the first time, learning how to play euchre, ANYTHING, you can do that as long as you set your mind to it and go for the opportunity!

Make it a great rest of the weekend!

You Know Who

From Rockybado 4: Running Up a Hill

It was 9:30 in the morning, and both boys were obviously still sleeping. The typical lives of two young men on a weekend. However, Brody Ingram slowly woke up to the sound of his phone. It must have been ringing for quite some time. He lifted his head out of the pillow, and he put it down again. Brody really did not want to wake up. But it was either his alarm going off, or someone was trying to get ahold of him.

Brody slowly grabbed his phone and saw that his own girlfriend was trying to call him. He felt obligated to answer the phone since Candace Seales was hoping to hang out with him on this beautiful day. 

“Hello?” Brody answered his phone sleepily.
“Hey, Brody,” the voice answered on the other end.
“Candace?”
“Yes! Who else do you think it is?”
“Candace,” Brody replied with a smile.
“You’re too cute,” Candace remarked, laughing.
“So, when can I come over?”
“Whenever. It’s already 9:30.”
“I’ll probably ride my bike over if that’s cool.”
“If it works for you, then go for it.”

Okay, then. Brody tried to go back to sleep for thirty minutes, but it didn’t work. At ten o’clock in the morning, he finally got out of bed and got ready for the day. When he stretched and did fifty push-ups, he noticed that David, his brother, had gotten out of bed earlier than he had.

Of course.

David almost always gets out of bed at least thirty minutes earlier than Brody. It was probably a big brother thing. Or David just woke up to Brody’s phone going off. Nonetheless, David beat Brody to getting out of bed earlier. Brody eventually came downstairs, got himself a toasted everything bagel with plain cream cheese, and saw David sitting at the dining room table, eating some watermelon. 

It took a few minutes for David to fully acknowledge Brody’s presence, since he was very hungry for watermelon. Brody even took a piece of watermelon from David’s bowl, and he didn’t even notice that. However, two minutes later, David looked up and gave Brody a goofy smile. 

“Hey, Brody,” David said as his face returned to normal.
“Hey,” Brody replied, somewhat amused.
“Going over to Candace’s?”
“In a bit. What are you up to?”
“I’m going to practice with The Hawaiian Geeks today,” David answered.
“Sounds fun. How’s Olivia?” Brody asked his older brother.
“She’s doing pretty well. I’m hanging out with her tomorrow.”
“Cool. When are you practicing today?”
“Probably in a couple hours. Toby’s coming with.”
“He likes sitting in on your rehearsals.”
“Yes, he does. Toby just likes listening to The Hawaiian Geeks play.”

And it is true. Toby, the youngest of the Ingram's, has always liked listening to rock music, no matter which band. But, of course, he prefers the Hawaiian Geeks over any other band that he has heard of because….well, Brett, the second oldest brother, is in the band. And his other bandmates are pretty chill. 

Especially the keyboardist, whose name is Tony Rossi. 

Even though the Ingram’s have some family members with the last name Rossi, Tony and the Ingram’s are not related. Tony is just the chilliest dude on the planet. His long straight brown hair, his neon blue beanie, and his relaxed demeanor are all a dead giveaway.

Toby wanted to wear a beanie today, so he wore his favorite green beanie to the rehearsal.

Brody just wanted to spend some time at Candace’s, so he got his bike out of the garage and started to head over to Lowell when Brett, David, and Toby eventually approached him in Brett’s car. Brett had just arrived at the Ingram’s house to pick up David and Toby. David has a car, but he has always preferred taking a ride with Brett. Makes sense because the family’s house is technically on the way to John Coolwood’s house, where Brett, David, and Toby were planning to go.

“Do you want us to give you a ride?” Brett asked Brody.
“Nope. I’m going to ride my bike over to Candace’s,” Brody remarked.
“Okay. Suit yourself.”
“Besides, where are you going?”
“Coolwood’s,” Brett replied.
“That’s kinda out of the way,” Brody said.
“Maybe a little.”
“And I like riding my bike to Lowell. There’s something relaxing about it.”
“We would walk or ride our bikes, but we have some heavy equipment that we have to bring with us.”
“Well….”

The three boys drove off, and Brody watched the car take a left at 93rd Place from Garfield Court. He took a couple puffs on his inhaler, and then pushed his feet on the bike’s pedals. He then took off toward Candace’s house on Willowbrook Drive in Lowell. He knew that it was going to take about forty-five minutes to get to her house by bike. But he didn’t care. It was too nice of a day not to do something productive. 

Brody rode his bike through downtown Crown Point, a very liberating place for him. He could feel the breeze in his face. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. And he could breathe in and out peacefully. 

The ride to Candace’s was just what he needed today.

The bike ride, of course, only seemed like a minute to him when it was really about an hour when he had finally reached Candace’s house. Brody might have been a little sweaty from the bike ride from his own house, but he didn’t think he sweated too much. He got off his bike and walked it to Candace’s front door. Brody rang the doorbell, and Candace came out to greet him within seconds.

​“Hey, Candace,” Brody greeted his girlfriend.
“Hey, Brody,” Candace answered. “How long did it take you to ride your bike here?”
“Forty-five minutes. Not too bad.”
“That’s good, actually.”
“I brought some video games,” Brody remarked, not quite sure what else to say next.
“We could play video games, but we also just set up our built-in pool,” Candace said, sounding very excited.
“Anything works for me.”
“So, what would you like to do?” 
“I’m the wrong person to ask. What would you like to do?”
“We could play your video games!”

It's the beginning.
It will only get better.
It's only Monday.

Tomorrow's Tuesday.
Some schools have tacos for lunch.
Others linguine.

That is off the wall.
Now I want a burrito.
From San Diego.

Gotta go there soon.
San Francisco first, brother.
Let's see all the things!

Very fun haiku.
Now, let's do some traveling.
Life gets exciting.

It was the end of March 2017, and David and Toby Ingram were helping their brother, Brody, move into his new place in San Francisco. Brody just got another job doing IT work, and his girlfriend, Julia Jaconetti, was going to move with him. Their plan was to stay with Brody's cousin's friend and his girlfriend until everyone else came over to San Francisco. Brody was super excited about this new opportunity, and he and his brothers and friends have always wanted to end up in San Francisco since they love it there so much. And their dream was about to become a reality.

The kids' parents were going to come a day later because they were looking at seasonal homes in Orlando, Florida. Their plan is to keep their house in Crown Point, Indiana, and alternate between the two homes. And the two older brothers, Dawson and Brett, were in New York City because Brett was visiting some colleges for grad school. They weren't planning to come to San Francisco until a week later when Brody and his girlfriend would be all moved in. Brett has been doing some research on grad schools for a little while.

Since last week, Brody had been fighting a cold, and he was disappointed that he had to move to San Francisco while he was sick. He slept on the plane the whole time, and his nose was just so stuffed up. It did not take everyone too long to set up Brody's and Julia's space, but Brody quickly got very tired. After moving everything in, Brody fell asleep on the couch in the common area. David made some mostaccioli for the evening.

Four hours later....

"Yo, B-Rodes. Wake up," Toby said to Brody as he shook him.
"No," Brody replied quietly.
"We have mostaccioli on the table, so you need to get up, so we can eat all the mostaccioli!"
"No."
"Why not?" Toby asked.
"I don't feel like it," Brody replied in his sleep.
"Okay then. If you don't get up, I'mma squirt you with water."
"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Brody shouted as he sprung off the couch and ran toward Toby.
"Yay!"
"My head hurts."

David, Julia, and Toby were waiting for Brody to join them. The owners of this place, Kevin Iacobucci and Leslie Gilbert, both 30 years old, were on their way home. They had to go to the grocery store to get ingredients to make pina coladas, since that was what everyone wanted tonight. And Brody would probably go for one himself, even though he wasn't feeling all that well. But the four kids wanted to dig into the mostaccioli before all else.

"How are you feeling, Brody?" Julia asked her boyfriend.
"My head hurts a little, but I'm just tired," Brody said, half-awake.
"You want some mostaccioli though, don't you?"
"Of course."
"I made it from Dad's cookbook, just so you know," David said to his younger brother of a year.
"I figured as much," Brody remarked.
"Like, exactly how he makes it."
"It's just like Dad's, so it has to be good. When do Kevin and Leslie come back?"
"I don't really know. They said they were getting stuff for pina coladas, but they didn't say when they were coming home."
​"Can't wait for the pina coladas."

From Rockybado 4: Running Up A Hill

Brody Ingram pulled up his shirt and applied the sandwich bag full of ice to his chest. He noticed a nice bruise in the center of his chest, but, of course, he couldn’t remember anything that happened. Brody tried closing his eyes and going back to sleep, but it was hard, given the amount of pain that he was in.

“What happened?” Brody asked quietly.
“You and Dawson were in a car accident last night. While you had a green light, someone ran a red light and totaled your car. Dawson came out unscathed, but you broke your right hand and bruised your sternum. Thank goodness that was all it was. You two are so lucky that it wasn’t anything too serious. And, while waiting for the ambulance, you were throwing up, and Dawson was helping you out,” Mrs. Ingram replied.
“Oh God.”
“Do you remember any of that?”
“I don’t remember anything that happened last night. All I remember is that Dawson and I were in the car. We had the green light, and someone crashed into us. That’s it,” Brody said, still quietly.
“Dawson told me that he owes you a lot for what happened last night,” Mrs. Ingram said.
“No. Please don’t. But, can he and Daniela still go on their honeymoon?”
“Yes, but they are delaying it. They were supposed to leave for Michigan tomorrow morning, but they are leaving next week. Dawson and Daniela were smart in that they were planning to start out close and then make their way to Hawaii. Oh, and by the way, do you remember Candace visiting you last night?”
“Candace was at the hospital?!”
“Yes, she was. Candace was very worried about you. Dawson let her know that you were in the hospital, and she came by for twenty minutes. Now, would you like some tea?”

Brody nodded slowly. And, of course, he started crying again. Brody remembered nothing, not even the twenty minutes that Candace Seales, his girlfriend, had spent at the hospital visiting him.

A few minutes later, Mrs. Ingram brought out a cup of English breakfast tea for Brody, which happens to be his favorite kind of tea. Brody still lay on the couch, trying to connect everything that had happened last night. He really did not want to do anything today, except lie on the couch and watch some of his favorite movies, and drink English breakfast tea, of course. 

After practically spending the night in the hospital getting x-rays done on his right hand and chest, as well as being hooked up to a heart monitor, Brody knew that he had gone through a lot. But, of course, he couldn’t remember any of that. Dawson, his older brother, could, but Brody didn’t feel like getting off the couch and looking for him. 

Dawson ended up staying the night at the Ingram’s house, as did Daniela, his wife. 

After realizing what little motivation he had to do anything, Brody closed his eyes and fell asleep again. He had a pillow on top of his face, and he was perfectly okay with that. It was now 2:15, and Brody didn’t know when he was planning to wake up again. 

Until….

“Hi, Brody,” Dawson said softly as he gently shook his younger brother of seven years.
“Wha….” Brody replied sleepily.
“How are you after what happened last night?”
“You were there, too, weren’t you?”
“Yes, I was. I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay,” Dawson remarked.
“I hope so,” Brody said with a deep sigh, which made his chest hurt.
“Did Mom tell you about what happened?”
“Yes, but I don’t remember anything.”
“I didn’t expect you to. You went through a lot.”
“I guess.”
“Believe me. You really did.”

Brody lay on the couch, completely out of it. He wanted to watch a movie, but he did not want to get up off the couch. Especially when Felicia and Honeybunny both got up on the couch and lay on top of him. Felicia lay on Brody’s stomach, and Honeybunny lay at his feet. Dawson stayed with Brody for the time being. When Brody had to get up, Dawson helped him upstairs since he knew he was going to be extremely sore. Fifteen minutes later, Brody and Dawson returned to the common area and watched their favorite comedy movie. Even though Brody generally loves to watch movies with his family and friends, he fell asleep. Poor kid. He couldn’t help it. Brody put the same pillow over his face and wasn’t sure when he was going to wake up again.

Oh, Haiku Monday?
What would I do without you?
A beautiful day.

A great vacation.
Boston, in Massachusetts.
Go through Rhode Island.

Mystic in the Conn.
Maple bacon on a rack.
New England chowder.

Going through New York.
All the lights at 9 o'clock.
A wonderful sight.

Philadelphia.
Climbing up those famous steps.
And some sightseeing.

A great vacation.
Posting all of my photos.
​Social media.

It's Saturday, errbody!

For some people, it's probably kinda nice out. For others, not so nice. Either way, it is still the weekend, and there are so many things to do, depending on the weather. You can go to a local coffee shop, window shop for clothes, try the newest fried lasagna in town, or even dance in your own room. The possibilities are endless.

For everyone.

I'm out in Boston for the weekend to help my sister move her stuff out of her dorm, and I will definitely say that Boston is one of my favorite cities in the US!

So, with that in mind, I am going to resume talking about some of the people in my writing projects. I am going to start out with The Magic Video Game for this weekend, and talk about the other series in the coming weekends.

* Levi Cranston has a job offer from an IT company in Boston, Massachusetts. He is planning to move there within a few weeks.
* His best friends, Jack Andrews and Asad Prejesh, and girlfriend, Mackenzie Burbanks, are joining him in Boston. They are planning to go to graduate school to study IT. Jack also has a job offer in Boston.
* David Savino, another good friend of theirs, is in Arizona, going to grad school to study IT. 
* Olivia Cranston, Levi's sister, has a job offer in New York City. She and her friend, Audrey Bersigno, are looking to become roommates, as Audrey is actually already there for her job.
* Mackenzie's brothers, Jesse and Andrew, currently own a home in Valparaiso, Indiana, but they are looking to move to Bloomingdale, Illinois in a few months.
* Levi's plan is to go back to grad school to further his knowledge in IT, but he wants to get settled in with his new job first.
* Levi's older half-siblings, Louise and Elizabeth, decided to take a vacation together to San Diego, California.
* Evelyn Maeve Cranston, another sister, wants to go to college in Chicago. She is only ending her sophomore year of high school.
* Victoria Cranston, another sister, works part time, as she is a mother of two. She and her little family live in Valparaiso, Indiana. Her fiance works full time.
* Levi and Mackenzie have been dating for eleven and a half years.

Well, everyone, it's 2017. Good has already happened. Great is going to happen. And the best is yet to come. Whatever our goals are, I know that we can all achieve them. If that means switching jobs, buying a house for the first time, learning how to play euchre, ANYTHING, you can do that as long as you set your mind to it and go for the opportunity!

Make it a great rest of the weekend!

You Know Who

From The Jazzy Island of Dinosaurs 3: The Prehistoric Fiesta

It was March 1, 2013, and Dacston, Valpatic, Jokie, and Sammy were getting ready for a party for Dacston and the Wondersaurs and Prehistoric Rock.

It was not the Annual Fiesta.

The four dinosaurs were adjusting their bowties and looking at themselves in the mirror to make sure nothing was out of place for this party.

Then, Dacston had a huge announcement to make to his friends.

"We are going to a social outing tonight," Dacston said excitedly.
"Is it a bigger or smaller party than what we normally go to?" Valpatic questioned his T-Rex friend.
"A bigger social event. I think it will be fun."
"Who all will be there?"
"I know a few people who will not be there," Dacston replied.
"Who?" Valpatic asked.
"Selfish Arnie."
"And his henchmen?"
"And his henchmen."
"That's good to know."