Twelve Drummers Drumming

On the twelfth day of NaNo, my true muse gave to me

Twelve drummers drumming,

Eleven snowflakes snowing,

Ten random factoids,

Nine trains a-chugging,

Eight ways of souping,

Seven shows a-sassing,

Six books a-writing,

Five Syllables!

Four pumpkin cakes

Three cough drops

Two cuddly cats

And a family that’s dear to me.

***

I should have known better than to use 12 Days of Christmas as my Non-NaNo anthem – I always get lost around day eight. I suppose it doesn’t help that I also get lost crossing the street – so the two together obviously means I failed to find my way to the computer/blog.

D: But you still managed to haunt Facebook all weekend.

A: Facebook doesn’t require a great deal of thought – just photos, some pithy sayings and cyberstalking – I mean enjoying some of my favorite—

D: Don’t say it. Can we please have a post without Dwarven #majesty?

A: No. The majesty cannot be contained. It must be allowed to flow.

D: You are so strange sometimes.

A: Thank you.

D: So what’s this about souping? Is that even a word?

A: No, but it fit the syllable requirement. Thanks to a week-plus of nothing but soup, the boy went on a diatribe that sounded remarkably similar to Cohen the Barbarian’s lament in Color of Magic

(particularly at 0:58 onward)

D: I see. So the whole household is crazy then, yes?

A: Perhaps.

D: Good to know. And the nine trains?

A: TrainFest. Had to work. Train Guys are pretty cool.

D: And the 10 random factoids?

A: What I call research others may view as procrastination.

D: I see – still having a hard time getting inside Jenny Mallory’s head?

A: Something like that.

D: Just write the bloody thing, A.

A: (Sigh). Yeah. Moving on . . .

D: Eleven snowflakes snowing?

A: That’s rather self-explanatory, isn’t it? It snowed, D. On November 11 and at roughly 11:11, it started to snow. I’m going to find out who made that wish and—

D: Careful A, you still haven’t quite gotten your strength back. You may just end up giving whoever it was a hug and that just gives out mixed signals.

A: True.

D: And finally, the twelve drummers?

A: Well, it’s more like one awesome kid, but I’m pretty sure he’s going to make enough noise with his very early Christmas gift to sound like 12 drummers.

D: Ah, he can beat the war drum for me any day.

A: Actually, it’s for Jazz Band, but I’ll let him know.

D: You do that, A. So, is this it?

A: It is. The 12 Days of Non-NaNo are over.

D: And what have you learned?

A: That if I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own back yard—

D: I mean from blogging A – not from your journey to the Wonderful Land of Oz.

A: Oh. Well then, how about being able to blog about things other than my writing and my topsy-turvy character-rich inner-world.

D: You’re talking about me in that last bit, right?

A: Yes, D.

D: You aren’t planning on eradicating that part, right?

A: (Eye-roll) No, D.

D: Good. Just so we are both clear on that. You couldn’t live without me, anyway.

A: What are you going to do when your books are finally done and out there for the public to enjoy?
D: Well, I was thinking you should retire to someplace warm. I have these aches in my elbows – I’m thinking it’s from the sword – and really, I could do without the early arrival of winter, you know?

A: You are not retiring in my head.

D: Oh, come on, A! You’d miss me if I were gone.

A: . . .

D: You would. Just think about it, A.

A: And the final thing that I learned during my 12 days of Non-NaNo? D is as irrepressible as ever, and never ceases to surprise me. Hope all the NaNos out there are doing well as they approach the mid-way point, and that everyone else is having their own grand time! ‘Night all!

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