Renee Stevens

Thank you Percy! The great thing is since these are very short chapters they are actually a lot more fun to write and I don't end up discouraged. And don't worry, this weeks Saturday short is already done and ready to go up on Saturday, so hope you enjoy it as well!

Thank you for the review Daithi! You will be learning more about the puppy in the upcoming chapters as well as more about the ex and the other characters.

Thank you for the review Rebelghost. This will be a series of Saturday updates of approximately this same length. I'm hoping that doing a collection of flash fiction chapters (under 1K) will help break through the blocks that I have faced with some of my other stories. We will learn much much more about the characters before the story is complete!

"Please," he begged. "Can I have this one?" I inwardly cursed as I looked at the squirming puppy my six year old son held carefully in his mittened hands. I wanted so bad to tell him no, we weren’t getting a dog, but I knew it would break his heart. I wouldn’t even be in this position if it hadn’t been for my damn ex promising him a puppy. Only Dave had neglected to mention that he wouldn’t be around to help care for the little critter. As it was, I had managed to put this exact scenario of

When Dave walks away from Brad, Brad is devastated but is forced to hold things together for his six year old son. He's not looking for someone new, but that doesn't stop him from noticing that his son's teacher is quite the flirt, but Tony is still Jake's teacher and nothing can come of it. Or can it?

Thank you slytherin, I'm trying to

Update: Went to the doctor today, with my wonderful husband at my side. The doctor did a a1c test which is supposed to give my average glucose levels for the last 3 months. That should give a better indication of what exactly is going on with me. She agrees with us that she doesn't think it was a seizure like the ER doctor thought and is fairly certain that it was the low glucose levels that caused me to pass out. She is also doing some kind of blood test for my thyroid and all of those results should be in on Monday, so hopefully we will know more at that point. She did send me home with a glucose monitor and I currently have to test my glucose levels every morning when I first wake up and then any time I feel "crummy". I do have to say that I really liked this doctor. She was so much better than the ER doctor in my opinion in that she actually listened without interrupting as well as took the time to explain different aspects of what she thinks is going on with me. While she can't say with any guarantee until test results are back, she doesn't think I have full blown diabetes at this point. She's thinking that I'm more in a "pre-diabetes" stage. If that's the case then it could be something as simple as exercise and a change in diet to prevent me from developing full blown diabetes. She did say that low blood sugar is something that is seen regularly in the early stages of diabetes. Will update more when I know more. Also, I should note that within minutes of us sitting down in the exam room, she had my hospital records from last thursday in hand and went through them page by page and explaining all the results from the tests they did at the hospital.

NOW LIVE!!! The 2013 GA Poetry Anthology: Whispers in the Dark is now live! Fifteen new poem collections by some of your favorite authors, hope you enjoy! A Life in Question Bill W All in Your Mind WatchPatRun Astronomical Dusk FishWings Coy carringtonrj Murmers at the Dusk of Day comicfan Night Calls JoejoeGreene Poems By Moonlight II Michael9344 Quiet House Krista Requiem For Antonin Artaud Johnathan Colourfield Sonic Dolores Esteban Starlight ComeWhatMay Teach Me How A.J. The Whispering Celethiel To the End W_L Until The End layla Once again, thank you to Fishwings for creating the anthology banner and thank you to everyone who participated!

Me too Cassie! Me too!

Thank you fishie! It was, even at the time, and now that I actually have time to think about it and understand what was happening it's even more terrifying. I'll be starting to look for answers next week. Thanks Carrington. I'm trying to be, but it's tough because we don't know what happened and not 100% sure how to make sure it doesn't happen again. Will start making calls on Monday to see what I can find out and how soon I can get different testing done to figure out what's wrong with me. That's what we're afraid of Mike. My Grandma on my Dad's side is diabetic and not sure who, but my mom was saying that her family is known for diabetes as well. Right now my only thing is finding out exactly what is wrong, and how bad it is. Until we get all of the results back, I make sure I drink some juice to keep the levels where they need to be. They explained all the levels in much more detail to my husband and my parents. The being scared wasn't so much of an impending doom type thing, it was more that I when I came to I had guys I didn't know over me (the paramedics and cops). It took a little bit before I started understanding things, but after that it seemed to calm a little bit. My husband has seen seizures before (not me) and he's certain that wasn't it, plus like my mom said, she's seen me after every seizure I've ever had and this wasn't even close to how I typically am. There's still a lot of questions to be asked, and very few answers at this point in time. It's definitely going to be a bit of an interesting time for the next little while until we get it figured out, but we will. I'll be making calls on Monday to set up the other tests I need to have done, to see my neurologist, and to get a complete workup and go from there. After talking to my husband and a few others, I'm making sure to sip on juice throughout the day to hopefully help keep my sugar levels up. Also, making sure I don't go for extended amounts of time without eating, because my grandma has told me before that she has to eat regularly or her levels can drop. Though the hard part is watching what I eat and actually eating stuff that's good for me! lol... Thanks PD! Me too!! Thank you Andy, I hope so too! I don't recall them saying anything about my heart rate, but I might just not have been with it enough to remember and my hubby hasn't said anything about my heart rate. I'm not sure what we're going to find out, but hopefully we'll have some answers soon!

So, I had promised a couple of people that I would post a blog about what had happened to me last night. I was simply sitting here, talking and laughing with my husband. I was on the couch, he was on his chair and suddenly he said I just collapsed and somehow ended up on my stomach on the floor, out cold and completely unresponsive. Scary stuff... but I don't remember any of that, I only know what I was told later. He rushed over to me and I was breathing, but no matter how much he said my name, I wouldn't respond in any way, shape, or form. He ended up calling 911 and then proceeded to call my parents. He then had to lock my dogs up as two of them were plastered to my side and he knew someone would get bit trying to help me. An off-duty paramedic (we're guessing because he was in his personal vehicle, not with the ambulance crew) and a cop showed up and the paramedic immediately put oxygen on me and and took my blood glucose level. The reading he got was 35 (in the 170's is normal I guess). He asked my hubby about juice and we had some Hawaiian Punch so the paramedic gave me a little of that and I started to come around. Problem with me coming around, I kept pulling the oxygen mask off and he had started an IV, which I tried to rip out of my arm and succeeded in bending the needle. My hubby finally got back by my head and kept talking to me, telling me to focus on him. They gave me whatever it is they give someone to bring their blood glucose levels up and loaded me into the ambulance. My hubby rode in the ambulance with me, but I guess he had to ride up front where he could be buckled in. About halfway to the hospital, they tested my blood glucose again and it had risen slightly and gave them a reading of 50. I remember a lot of the trip to the hospital, especially me repeatedly saying "I'm scared." I don't really remember getting to the hospital, but my vision went wonky like it does before I get a migraine and they gave me some other fluids and medications that were able to stop the migraine from hitting. I was given an EKG which came back normal and they also performed a CT scan. The ER Doc by this time I had heard that I had a history of seizures (up until I was 6 years old and then 2 seizures at age 18) and so she focused on that and only that. Said she thought I had a seizure, problem with that is that my mom has seen every seizure I've ever had, and typically I am completely out of it for hours upon hours after. This time, after they gave me the hawaiian punch and I started to come out of it, I was with it for the most part. I knew where I was, even if I didn't know why. I knew what I had done yesterday. I could talk to them and answer questions, so it doesn't gel with my family that it was a seizure. Now, remember those low levels of blood glucose? Well, by the time they tested them at the hospital, they were reading 179 (which is normal). Someone, don't ask who because I can't remember, said that with everything they had given me, they typically see the levels shoot in the 300-400's before dropping back down and leveling out. And yet I never shot up that high. The doctor told my mom that she wasn't concerned about the dramatic low numbers of the original readings and that it must have been a malfunction in the machine. One malfunction I could see... Two malfunctions giving the same number I could even see, but for it to give two different numbers, I sincerely doubt it was a malfunction. To be honest, they aren't 100% sure what is wrong with me. The doctor is saying seizure, even though she really never examined me, while my parents are saying no, it wasn't a seizure. I have to call on Monday to schedule an MRI and an EEG as well as get set up to see my neurologist just to double check things there. After that, we're talking that I'm going to go see someone and get thoroughly tested for diabetes (it does run in both sides of my family) and go from there. I am extremely stiff and sore, but for now I am just living as normal and waiting to find out what all the tests will say. If you message me and don't get a response immediately, please forgive me. On top of my entire body aching, I am constantly tired.

So glad you enjoyed the story DDK!!! I have had a few people say they wish it was longer, and to be honest, the finished product you read was about double what the original was. This story was originally written to be under 15K, but when it was decided to do it for Premium, I revised and fleshed it out just a bit. I won't say we'll never see these characters again, because honestly I'm not sure. I've learned to never completely discount an idea, but a sequel for Challenging Fate is not a story that I'm actively pursuing at the moment.

Knowing me, there's never any telling what's going to happen... But first, I have to finish the dozen or more stories sitting on my computer in different stages of completion. My jaw literally about hit the floor when I seen it, so whatever work it took, you managed it!!! My hubby always tells me I'm really hard to surprise, but I so so so appreciated it and the effort it took! Thank you!!! Who? Me? At least you have a couple perks with being a beta for me... There is the disadvantage though of getting story starts and then me losing interest in that particular idea for a while... How many times have you wanted to smack me for that??

thank you kryshim. Glad you enjoyed it. ummm... there is?

Uh huh, sure ya did... Good thing I know better, huh

Thank you everyone!!! Definitely not what I expected when Trebs told me he had a surprise planned for today. Sneaky sneaky . I had a lot of fun writing Challenging Fate, but it still wouldn't be what it is without the help of my completely awesome team!

It's Friday again, which means two new prompts from our prompt guru, Comicfan. Take a look at these and maybe even write one and share it in the Writing Prompt Forum! Also, don't forget April is Team Recognition month, so make sure you thank your writing team! Prompt 222 – Creative Tag – The Dream Lately you have been having the same dream over and over again. Only today you realize parts of your dream are coming true. Is this something to be grateful for or terrified of? Prompt 223 - Creative Tag – The Beast You were on your way home, arms loaded down with your groceries when you were attacked. The men who attacked you made no secret of the fact that they intended to kill you. Suddenly, from the dark a large creature came forward, destroying them and saving your life. What is this beast that saved your life? This weeks feature prompt is from last weeks Prompt #220. The prompt was a first line prompt of: Why is my underwear hanging off the chandelier. There were lots of responses and here's one of them from Greg_A.

Thank you Lisa! Glad you liked the name too, I really liked that name. Names can be so hard to come up with, but for some reason I really just liked the name Braeden. Thank you for reading and reviewing!!!

Thank you Lisa. I was back and then kind of disappeared again when real life decided to hit our family pretty hard. There is definitely more of Alyssa coming, as well as a lot more of Shawn and of course Jordan. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter out really soon!

Thank you bookjunky! First off, I'm sorry for the delays that have happened with this story. Generally I can keep things moving along pretty well, but it seemed like one thing after another kept hitting and I really had to focus on some real life stuff. It looks like things might be settling down a bit, so I'm hoping to have the next chapter out really soon.

Thank you so much Stephen. I hope that despite the delay in getting the next chapter out that I can continue to bring those same little things into the upcoming chapters. So sorry for the delay, but I am back to work on this story and hope to have the next chapter out soon!

Thank you Cassie! Glad that you are enjoying this story so much. I have seen so many stories where all the characters are so confident right from the start and I didn't want that with this story. As for Colin and Shawn, there is definitely still some explanations to come, but by the time I'm all done, hopefully I'll have answered the majority of questions. Sorry for the delay with this story, life got in the way, but I am currently back to work on it and trying to get it finished.

Thank you Menace! Glad you liked it!

Thank you Cannd. Sorry about the delay in replying to your review! I'm glad that you enjoyed the story and you brought up some really valid points. I would love to expand this story at some point, but I have many other projects in the works that I need to finish before I can look at expanding any of my past stories. I definitely will be looking back at your review if/when I expand it.

Nah, I couldn't have Braeden be a stalker. His getting a picture was kind of a fluke. I thought a lot about Keith. I wanted it to hit him hard, but I didn't want a total freak out confrontation between him and Will. I wanted Keith to be just like you said, level headed and able to look at things from every angle. Based on your comments, I think I succeeded in that. Thank you