Tina Cattane

If you missed last week’s episode, you missed a great one. You can watch the replay here. As always, the ladies of the podcast created some great pieces of writing from this sprint prompt. Today’s Prompt is five words: like, fascinated, massive, cough, tall.  We really enjoyed Tina’s take on the prompt, and we think you will as well! Enjoy, and make sure you reach out to her to let her know you want her to finish this story!

Winter nights in the wilderness were not what Ivan expected. Having spent his life in the city he couldn’t remember ever seeing a sky so vivid. The stars hung in the sky like a child’s mobile, some invisible strings longer than the others, so it seemed as if he could reach up and touch them. He came out every clear night he could, and stood looking up in awe at the beauty of the stars. But tonight was different. Tonight took his breath away. He knew scientific facts about the aurora borealis, seen pictures and videos, but none of that prepared him for this. 

As he gazed into the sky the many colored particles danced across the sky in a ribbon that reached from the eastern horizon to the west. In his mind, Ivan heard Mozart as he watched the particles dance in perfect time. It made his chest ache so that each breath seemed almost painful. 

His body shuddered from the cold and he knew he’d been standing out here too long. He should go back inside and check on his sleeping son. As he turned toward the cabin a new sensation crawled up his spine, making the hair stand up on the back of his head. He stopped to listen. The night was completely silent. He turned in a slow circle, examining every shadow among the trees. No movement. Alarm coursed through him as he realized. It was completely silent. No shrill calls of the night birds. No hooting from the owls nesting nearby. No rustling or scurrying of the many small animals that lived in the forest. They’d all gone silent. 

Before he could react he saw them. Dark shadows in the shape of men  rising as if spectors and emerging from the treeline. He tried to run but they were on him before he took a step. He heard the sickening thump from the back of his head more than felt it. As the sky shrunk to black in his vision he called out.

“Joshua!” and the sky faded to black. 

Christina Cattane is a Christian Indie Writer who writes stories set in Alaska and other exotic locales. She is the author of a novel called ‘Lost in the Land of the Midnight Sun’ which falls in the Christian Dystopian Fiction genre, but she also writes in many other genres. Tina grew up in Alaska, has lived in Saudi Arabia, and currently resides in Michigan with her husband and youngest 2 of 4 kids. Her travels around the world often influence her writing. Visit her website at http://christinacattane.com where you can see the progress she is making on her novel. Or catch up with her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cmcattane

If you missed last week’s episode, you missed a great one. You can watch the replay here. As always, the ladies of the podcast created some great pieces of writing from this sprint prompt. Today’s Prompt is “Write a scene or a short story using ONLY dialogue!”.  We really enjoyed Tina’s take on the prompt, and we think you will as well! Enjoy, and make sure you reach out to her to let her know you want her to finish this story!

“Can you tell me a story Grandma?”

“Of course child, but you need to be sure your hands are working while I do. These fish won’t cut themselves.” 

“Yes Grandma, I promise.’

“Good, then hold your ulu properly like I showed you, we don’t want any cut fingers.”

“Sorry, I forgot.”

“Very good. Now let me think, which story shall I tell you?”

“A new one, that I haven’t heard before!”

“A new one? Well I’m not sure…oh yes, I know of the perfect one. Are you ready?”

“Yes Grandma, and see, I am cutting the fish like you said to.”

“Very good. In a time long ago, before the great catastrophe, there was a baby boy born in a giant city made of strange stone. His family lived in a great tall wigwam so high it touched the sky. “

“How is that possible Grandma, to build a house that tall?”

“The strange stone had magical power not to topple over. Now this boy was a child of promise.”

“What does that mean Grandma? What is a child of promise?” 

“It means he was promised to his mother by God. She prayed and prayed to have a child and promised to dedicate his life to God if he answered her prayer.”

“Oh, so she promised, and God promised too. So he’s was a child of promise!”

“Yes, Yes, very good. The boys father was a man of God…”

“What was his name Grandma?”

“The father’s name was Levi, and the boys name was Joshua. Now Levi was a man of God, and one day while he was praying, God spoke to him.”

“Did he see God?!?”

“No only heard his voice.”

What did it sound like?

“Like a still small voice within his heart.”

“How did he know it was God?”

“Because, he spoke with God often and recognized his voice when he heard it. Now listen, God told Levi to take Joshua away from the great city of strange stone, and take him to a far off land where the rivers ran turquoise and the mountains stood guard.”

“Just like our village…

Christina Cattane is a Christian Indie Writer who writes stories set in Alaska and other exotic locales. She is the author of a novel called ‘Lost in the Land of the Midnight Sun’ which falls in the Christian Dystopian Fiction genre, but she also writes in many other genres. Tina grew up in Alaska, has lived in Saudi Arabia, and currently resides in Michigan with her husband and youngest 2 of 4 kids. Her travels around the world often influence her writing. Visit her website at http://christinacattane.com where you can see the progress she is making on her novel. Or catch up with her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cmcattane