Breast Cancer Update

Greetings Fellow Readers - I wanted to update you on recent events that has kept me away from my writing, but at the same time has inspired me to get back on track and do what I love so much. On March 29, 2017, I was diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer and after going through two sets of doctors who wouldn't listen to my instinct, I finally was place in the best hands I could have ever asked for. I am now a patient at UCHealth in Aurora, Colorado. LOVE IT!  I just finished my fourth and final chemo treatment and will undergo a double mastectomy/reconstructive surgery in September. I will say this whole process has had its ups and downs, but I'm still here spite those who'd wish I'd move on in more ways than one - but that's their problem, I'm here for the long haul and here for my family, Nobody's going to fill my shoes.

I'm excited to get back to my keyboard and my paint brushes. I'm just about finished with a new novel called "Witch" and hopefully will be on shelves soon. I'm slowly updating my products on my Etsy.com Ukanducrafts Store. I'm just taking things day by day. Look forward to sharing my breast cancer survival story with you and my newest in original horror stories for this Halloween Season.
Until then - Blog ya later alligator.

Most Sincerely,
BU3 Stacey L. Bolin USN Ret Seabee

BOdY PArTs - Original Thriller

 

 

 

 

"BOdY PArTs"

Part One

 

 

Original thriller written by: Stacey L. Bolin
 

Copyright 10/5/2013

All rights reserved

Sound enhancement for the story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DE3e_hkBFo

 "OH NO!" exclaimed Candace as she reached into her dryer to discover that although her laundry had been tumbling for more than an hour, they were as wet and as cold at the moment she'd put them in to dry. "This is so not what I need right now!"

In her mind she began to see her budget dwindling and her credit cards burst into flames, for she knew from situations past, anything in her home that had a heating element in it was going to result in either a hug repair bill by some repairman who would hit on her and then rake her wallet through the coals, or a complete replacement of the product - either choice was not in her budget.

On the flip side of her exceptional ability to think the worst and the worst moment, she also had the special "MacGyver" mind set when faced with solving unexpected problems - and this situation would be no different from any other. Candace had only one solution - get everything washed and take it to the local laundry mat to dry it all. Three washes at home and one trip to the laundry mat would buy her about three days - she'd worry about her dryer dilemma later.

By nine o'clock that evening she had washed the entire fleet of dirty dish and shower towels, work clothes, and even a few items that her boyfriend, Glen, had left behind during his weekend stay. "I wish Glen was here right now," she thought as she looked upon the three heaping baskets that she would now be loading into her car - by herself in the cold and pouring down rain that could be heard even in a sound proof booth.

One basket at a time, she managed to get the laundry into her, old, and very small but VERY reliable, Volkswagen Rabbit. She quickly got into her car, started it up, hit the defroster on high heat to keep the windows from fogging up, and looked for any radio station that would put her in a better mood for doing laundry so late and on such a dreary bone chilling wet night. "It's this kind of storm that make even the sane go mad." she thought as she backed out of the driveway and  headed down the road.

The cold harsh rain beat hard against her car as the wind blew strong and unforgivingly as she slowly drove towards her destination. "Ha Ha," she chuckled out loud to herself, "What a great scene for a horror movie - Young petite woman ventures out alone during a dark stormy night heading into a unknown danger that awaits her..." she laughed again, "at the laundry mat." A chill streaked through her body. "Ok Candace...maybe not."

The roads gave the illusion of ice from the reflection of the street lights that had not been damaged by the wind. She loved the idea that she was not sitting in a line of traffic due to the evening rush. When she finally arrived she was again pleased with the lack of human life and the cars in which they drive. By the looks of things, she was going to get to drive right up to the door and would be able to stay somewhat dry.

All the stores in the plaza were close and dark for the night with the exception of the laundry mat and its neon sign that read, in a bug zapper blue looking light, open and the EZ-Mart with its sign that said Z-Mat  because it was in dire need of a few red blubs to be replaced. What added to the spooky finger she felt was poking her on her back - the laundry mat harbored a strange glow due to its foggy windows that were created from the heat and dampness in the building being warmer than the temperatures outside and offered no visibility to allow her to see who was inside. A strange uneasy feeling was beginning to works it's magic to set the seed in her mind to become fearful of what may lay behind the fog adorned windows.

"It's a flipping laundry mat Candace - get your ass out of the car!" she screamed at herself. Still a bit apprehensive, she collected the laundry baskets and a box of dryer sheets and made her way into the building.

Ring....Ring, sounded the small brass bell that was hung over one of the two doors she chose to enter through.

"Olla" said a small but stern voice from a women who appeared to be of an Asian or foreign decent, that was seated behind the counter. "We close soon...No wash."

"Hi, um that's fine. I only need to dry these?" Candace replied sounding more like a question of having to drying them vs. needing to dry them. "I've never gotten the pleaser of going to a laundry mat and being the only one here. All the dryers all to me, myself, and I, - this is so cool."

"Ok...Fine...you dry."

"Phew! This stuff would have caused a huge stink if I had to wait until tomorrow. Nothing worse than the smell of...." The laundry tenant looked at her as she continued to nervously babble on. "Wet clothes turning to the dark side and smell like some ones old footlocker or attic barn."

The woman at the counter nodded her had but clearly didn't understand the nervous banter.

"You know...a moldy smell?" She questioned again, hoping her explanation would change the tenants’ look of confusion. Candace pondered for a moment and tried to rationalize that maybe there was some type of a language barrier, or better yet, the woman was pretending not to understand because she didn't want to talk to her. Being almost closing Candace realized that the look was more of a - hurry up and get your shit done...I want to go home.

As Candace did her best to get both her laundry dried and a laugh from the tenant, the sounds of the muffled wind and the rain intensified as it accompanied the ringing of a second bell from the open entry door furthest away from the counter.

"Olla" said the tenant.

The sounds of snorting and frothy bubbles were the only sounds short of a greeting.

"Dang, that person must be drunk," Candace thought as she looked away from her laundry, that was tumbling heavy and hard in the dryer. All she wanted to do was try and get a quick peek as to who had come through the door, but all she could see was that whoever it was wore a dark hooded cloak that was drenched with water and appeared as if they had walked many blocks to do their laundry. Not once did the man or woman under the cloak ever look up to make eye contact. Candace knew that she would be called out as rude if she kept being nosy and not wanting to get caught staring, decided to refocus her attention back to her drying laundry.

A Heavy rustling and shuffling grew more and more intense. The scuffing of the unseen customers boot covered feet, in the water that was pooling on the floor from the wet cloak, sounded like children playing in a spring puddle - wet and messy.  Suddenly, and without any warning, there was a loud - BANG - SLAM - BANG - SLAM SLAM. It was clear that their laundry was now loaded and was confirmed by the sounds of quarters being feed into the washing machine. For a few short moments the room was filled only with the sounds of two washes and three dryers running, and then once again the bell rang out and the unknown person went back out into the storm.

Candace turned to see the tenant looking down at her cell phone when she asked, "Hey, I thought you said no washes because you'll be closing soon?"

The tenant quickly looked up at her with a continued expressionless look and then slowly looked back down at her cell phone.

Once again it was now only the tenant and Candace and 30 minutes left to go until the dryers were done. Candace had forgotten that the one downside to drying clothes at this particular place was that all the benches, for customers to sit down on, were all near the washers and only folding tables were near the dryers. Fitting, but inconveniencing at the same time. It was getting to that point in the night where the only thing Candace wanted to do was to be home, wrapped up in her favorite quilt, a cup of hot tea with lemon and honey, and watch a great mystery thriller movie. "It's October, the season for all things that go bump in the night, as long as it is experienced from the safety of my home and the comforts of my couch." she thought and then laughed out loud. "This is the last place I want to be, but if I have to, then I'm sitting down."

Not wanting to be seated close to the counter where the expressionless tenant, or ET, which was now the new title Candace had thought up, she sat at the beach nearest the washers where the cloaked soaked mystery customer was doing their wash. As she watched the washer move around, she recalled her days as a young child when her mother would take the family laundry to dry on days when the weather didn't allow for it to be lined dried. From what she could remember, her family didn't own a dryer until her freshmen year of high school, and she'd be the first to tell you that there is nothing better than a bed that was just made with sheet that were hung outside to dry.

She always loved to watch the washers gently roll the clothes through the sudsy white bubbles back and forth and then flip into a crazed almost out of control spin. As she watched the two washers run through their cycles, she noticed that it appeared that the customer was washing two red comforters - one in each washer.

"Wow, that person could have saved themselves $2.50 if they had used the 35lb washer and put both of them in together. What a waste of money." she remarked quietly to herself. "I wish I had...."

Her thoughts were immediately interrupted by a strange sound that was a blend of water dripping and think bubbles that were coming one of the strangers washers. Not wanting to bring attention to herself, she remained seated, but leaned as far forward as she could toward the washer only to notice, that in addition to the strange noises, it also seemed to be leaking a bubbly reddish fluid. It was certainly not any kind of laundry soap that she'd ever seen. She decided to get up and get a closer looker.

"No! NO TOUCH!" Screamed the laundry tenant in a sharp stinging sounding voice as she flung her out from behind the counter and headed towards Candace like a fire storm out of control. 

"No touch wash! No belong to you! Move way now!"

"What's the problem? I'm only trying to help." Candace could feel her heart trying to repeatedly jump into her throat while her blood was pumping a mile a minute.

"Wash not yours!  The tenant continued to scream as she pushed her away from the washer.

This time Candace had gotten an expression, one of anguish and hate. The tenant then looked dead into her eyes while flailing her arm out and pointed in the directions of the dryers and said in an evil tone of voice, "You go dry clothes! Then you go home! No come back!"

The same cold chill that road with her from home, found its place within Candace once again. Her instinct was telling her something was wrong. While the logical side of her wishing she was home. 
"It wasn't laundry detergent coming from that washer." She thought. Then in one brief moment she let herself ponder the idea of what it could have been - immediately she could feel the hair on her body standing right up straight to accompany the chill she was now wearing as a coat. She knew what it was leaking from the washer; she knew what it was indeed - human blood.

To be continued.

 

Join me tomorrow for the conclusion to today original story

"BOdY PArTs".

What will Candace discover about the cloaked mystery person? Will she call the police?
Who's been murdered?

Will she ever get her dryer fixed?   
Don't miss out on an ending that is certainly one that will deliver this years Halloween shock and awe - guaranteed. 

You'll be thinking....what a killer story...no pun intended.
 

Happy Halloween.

 

"A Magnet for the Oddest Stories".

 

 

To get the feeling of my story; Open up two youtube pages at the same time and play these song links I have below. Now I am setting the mood.  Once the music begins, continue to read on....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvRv-243Cmk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvRv-243Cmk&feature=related

The afternoon sky was black and thick as a  harsh and bitter rain pounded on our truck. I did my best to keep it under control through the gusty winds as we made our way toward our destination. A streak of lighting danced in front of my tired eyes as the sound of intense thunder exploded around us. I knew this was a sign of the horrific things to come...something was lurking out there, ready to find us and I feared that we would never get away.   HOLD ON - STOP THE MUSIC.  What am I doing - MY BAD. Sorry, it's not Halloween yet....lets get back to my story "A Magnet for the Oddest Stories". You'll have to wait until October to get the rest of this story.  *Wink*

 

***

 

 

Have you ever found yourself in the midst of the most oddest moment of your life that you find yourself either speechless, embarrassed, or wanting to run away as fast as you can because the topic gets to be a TMI situation? A.K.A. (To Much Information) type of topic.

Now it is no secret to my friends and family members, that for some reason, and not always bad reasons, my family is a magnet for people who are not afraid to share their most personal secrets with a complete and total stranger. Some of the things that people have revealed would have you either taking notes and writing your own version of "50 Shades of Gray" or calling Steven King to help him with his next horror film. My husband usually gets approached by female strangers who want to talk about their sexual problems and lack of a love life and meaningful relationships. Now I have my theory on this, but I’ll save it for my "13 Days of Halloween" portion of my blog. It should fit nicely right after the story on "What lurks in an 18 year old boy’s bedroom?" I on the other hand, get approached by both men and women who are usually the ones who aren’t getting any sex with a whole lot of love to give and nobody wants it. I wish I had a magic wand so that everyone in the world could find happiness in their lives. I believe that there is someone for everyone, just finding the right person may take longer for others, for whatever their reason may be. Either way, I am both surprised and humbled that people trust in us to talk in great detail...and they don't even know us. All I can say is that today's story doesn’t fall in anywhere near life that involves sex or love. This my friends, is at the top of the SHOCKING AND TRUE film category and still has me wondering - Why? So let me begin....

Two weeks ago, my younger son was in need of a pair of safety boots for his auto mechanics class that he is enrolled in this year. Now for most parents with a strict budget, hearing the word safety equipment is usually followed by - large price tag and then a "Get in the truck we are  heading to K-Mart". Don't get me wrong, I am not in the habit of scrimping when it comes to safety, but I'll be the first to say, my husband swears by his steel toed boots from K-Mart and that he's yet to find another pair that holds up so well and protects his feet.  So, my plan was to get the same for my son.

Now my son turned 15 in June and he is enjoying that feeling of what Independence is like. No more Mom in tow anymore - which is nice for both of us.  He tries on boots, mom looks at things, he looks at video games, mom is still looking at things - you get the gist, I’m sure. Usually I am drawn in by the towel section, followed by the pillows and then women's clothing, but when I discovered that I had lost enough weight to wear the Jaclyn Smith line, I head straight to clothing. Now with the weight loss I was also blessed with another wonderful change - I have graduated from huge parachute sized underwear to finally fitting into thin girl sexy underwear. Yeah that's right. I can wear it. Smile. I'm just not quite brave enough to walk into a Victoria Secrets. I know I can fit into my size there, but I'm still a bit bumpy in areas that need toning. My husband says, "You're only going to wear it for me, so it shouldn't matter", but I know I'm bumpy in places and I want to look my best when I can and for me when I have sexy underwear on, bumpy is not allowed. But my story today is not about bumpy bodies or what kind of underwear you like, it's about what happened to me as I browsed the lingerie department in our local K-Mart.

 

My younger son had gone off to try on boots and I was solo looking for some replacement undergarments when I heard a voice say to me, "Do you like satin or cotton?" I quickly spun around thinking it was someone I knew trying to be funny with me. Much to my surprise, stood a small woman about 5'5 wearing a big smile.

Immediately I started having a conversation with my mind which probably had me looking like I was having a break down. "Stacey, just pretend you didn't hear her," my mind said to me as I scrambled to find a way to move on with my browsing - Alone. "You heard her, now answer her you fool."

"Shut up brain and let me think," I thought to myself.

"So, which is it, cotton or satin?" She repeated with a smile.

"Both," I replied, hoping that the one word answer, like my kids give me when they want me to buzz off, would work.

"Me too, I like the feeling of the satin or really soft cotton on my butt."

"Uh, OK?" I replied that placed our conversation in an odd plateau of silence that I thought was my cue to continue to move slowly away. I pretended to be looking for something, but all I wanted was to just get myself out of this pending one sided conversation.

"Did you know that my grandmother is 91 and still has her period?" said the voice again.

"Say What?" I replied in a stunned sounding voice as I turned to see if she was just pulling my leg. “Is she sick?” I asked.

"No. She just still has her cycle. Can you imagine that? She could still have babies if she wanted too. It's strange, coming here to have to buy her underwear so her pads will fit. She likes the Always Overnights maxi pads.  Oddly enough she stood there with a very serious face and I stood there in disbelief as to what I just heard.OMG! DO YOU REALLY THINK I HAVE THIS NEED TO KNOW WHATS GOING ON IN YOUR GRANDMOTHERS UNDERWEAR!? I almost asked the question as to how she knew it was what she claimed it was, but I honestly and whole heartedly feared she would answer this question in great detail.

I shook my head while suddenly feeling this strange urge to laugh. I get that way when I'm embarrassed or if things get too serious and I don't know how to respond. I looked around me trying to pin point someone, anyone, that might have been playing a trick on me. In my head I was hoping that this was some type of segment from the show - Impractical Jokers. I looked inside the display racks to see if the four guys on this show were hiding out in the nightgowns and robes, trying not to laugh, while I stood there doing my best to process what I was hearing.

Trying to be respectful, I mustered up a response, "Excuse me, why would you want to tell a complete stranger about your grandmother’s personal hygiene?” She never did reply to my question, maybe she realized that she had offered way too much information. Yes I should have just shut up and took the time to listen, but I just felt this was way too personal of a topic to be talking about in lingerie department, in a K-Mart, with a stranger. Maybe I should have not even have bothered and just do what my friends do, pretend your cell phone is buzzing and answer it. I guess I was just baffled that one, she picked me to share this with, and two, 91 years old and still having your period – I hope that is all it is, and not something serious being overlooked.  We all think of what we should have said - after the fact, but I just didn’t know what to say and I still felt like it was some type of gag.

As I looked around, with the hopes that this was still some type of candid camera funny, I saw my son walking down the aisle to get another pair of boots to try on. Awe opportunity knocks.

"There's my family, I need to catch up with them. They are probably wondering where I am. It's been nice talking to you." I said with a polite smile then turned and walked away.

"It was nice talking to you too."

"What was that?" I thought, “And why did she chose to tell me this?”

I never did see her again as my son and I finished our shopping, but now it seems that every time I see an elder woman, I hear this woman talking about her grandmother’s period. I think I am scared for life – Calgone take me away!

So the moral of this story is - Never tell a stranger what your grandmother put in her underwear, you just might scare them away. *Wink* 


Blog ya later Alligators.