1. Do a word count of one of your stories pretending that it has been accepted for publication by a magazine. The magazine’s one stipulation is that you cut 25%. Be aggressive and picky by cutting expendable scenes, words, and phrases. Make your story lean and mean.
“Pink sparks? I got pink sparks. Out of all the colors in the universe, in the galaxy, I got pink colors?!” Jamie yelled in frustration.
“Calm your horses Jay, if the universe wants you to have pink sparks, then you will have pink sparks. Besides, it matches with your sparkly shoes,” Anastasia explained with a smirk planted her face.
“Really Ana? That really isn’t fair considering that Dad forced me into these,”
“Well is that my fault Jay? Your father has impeccable taste if you ask me,” Anastasia said, pointing to the sparkly pink shoes with pink wings fluttering with the wind. Tomorrow was going to be the day where Jamie gets to fly in front of his family and friends for the first time. By the way, Jamie hates everything pink.
“Why, thank you for the compliment Anastasia,” Jonathan came in holding yet another pink faux fur coat for Jamie to try on. Anastasia believed it was the fifth one in two hours.
“Dad, I don’t want to try on another. Any of the hundreds fur coats you made me try on are fine,” Jamie protested as he walked over to Jonathan.
“Nonsense Jamie, you don’t even know how many shades of pink there are in the world. To increase your knowledge, there are twenty-four different shades. You’ve tried fifteen on so far, only nine more to go!” Jonathan exclaimed in excitement. If there is a choice between a pink swan fountain or a gigantic pink ice Jamie sculpture, Jonathan knows there isn’t a choice. Both will have to be arranged immediately.
“Fine Dad, this is the last one,” Jamie said with irritation burrowed in his eyebrows as he tried on the magenta faux coat.
“Beautiful, absolutely fabulous Jamie! I think this is the one. Anastasia, isn’t this the one?” Jonathan squealed with delight as he spun Jamie around. Jonathan said this every time Jamie tried on the coats, and Anastasia’s reply was the same every time.
“Yes, Jonathan, he looks great,” Anastasia said, turning her laughter into a cough attack.
“Honey, you need to drink more water, you look so dehydrated,” Jonathan said worriedly as he came over to Anastasia. His wings fluttered as if it read his mind.
“I will go get a jug of water for honey. Oh, scratch that, I will make some lemonade for all of us! Ooh, I will be making my famous pink lemonade! See you birdies in ten minutes!” Jonathan sang as his rainbow sparks showered down on us, showering hope and excitement.
Shielded from the common eye, only individuals who had wings could see everyone’s wings, often called The Winged. When one turned sixteen, their wings automatically appear on one’s shoes. Every wing was white with the same shape and size. The great thing about wings was that it adjusted to any type of shoe that you wore
“Ew, this one is definitely the worst of the lot! I can’t even fly, and Dad is making me try on these dreadful coats!” Jamie exclaimed as he quickly shrugged off the coat.
“It’s okay Jay. All you have to do is practice. Remember, practice makes perfect,” Anastasia said with her soothing voice, hoping that Jamie will be ready for tomorrow. He has to be, not only for his sake, but for Jonathan’s sake.
When Jonathan was fifteen, he had his day like Jamie to present his flying to his family and friends. He left his shoes by the front steps like he always did that night. Unfortunately, the kids in the neighborhood didn’t like that Jonathan was different. He wasn’t into basketball and video games. He liked to wear nail polish, bake, go shopping, and wear pink. While Jonathan was sleeping, the kids in his neighborhood cut his wings on his shoes. So, when Jonathan came in front of his family and friends, he flew up ten feet, and came crashing down. He never was able to have his day in the light.
“I can’t even go up ten feet, Ana, how am I supposed to perform a 360-degree flip?! I can’t do this, I’m gonna go tell Dad,” Jamie quickly said as he started to jog to the stairs.
“No, you can’t. You know exactly what Jonathan went through. You just need to practice Jay, please keep practicing,” Anastasia said, pleading to Jay.
“But this isn’t working Ana. I don’t know what to do. We’ve been out here the whole day. Look, the sun is about to set. I can’t get it. I just can’t get it,” Jamie said, sitting down on the steps of his house looking at the drawing. Jonathan was furious when he found out we ruined his steps. He took them both by the ears and asked them why we did this. Jamie, in his rebellious phase, yelled at Jonathan,
“We wanted to! We don’t have any paper or colored pencils! What are we supposed to do all day long Dad!”
Jonathan looked back and forth from Jamie to me. He was hurting, but he didn’t let them see that. Instead, he walked over to the steps, looked at the drawings, and fluttered away. He brought the new markers and colored pencils, his rainbow sparks making him look like an ethereal being as he perfectly landed on the ground.
“I was saving this for your ninth birthday Jamie, but you left me no choice. Here you go,” Jonathan said as he held out the big bundle of colors to us. Jay and I stood in shock, not knowing how mad Jonathan was.
“Well, come on. If you insist on having these drawings, at least put some color in them. Oh, for the sake of the universe, don’t just stand there. I am a busy man, you know!” Jonathan exclaimed with a smile stretching onto his face. Jay and I run to hug Jonathan, overjoyed that he wasn’t mad. They quickly grabbed the colors and let their imagination flow.
“You know what, Jay? Go tell Jonathan, but you can’t use the stairs. Fly up and tell him,” Anastasia said with her arms crossed.
“Honestly Ana, you are impossible, if I can’t fly up ten feet, how am I supposed to fly fifteen feet up?”
“That’s not my problem. You’re gonna have to figure it out,” Anastasi said.
“Okay, be ready for me to come crashing down in thirty seconds,” Jamie said, giving me the death stare as he came down the steps. Jamie focused, closing his eyes to block out the world. It was only him and his wings. He opened his eyes as he leaped into the air, hoping to stay off of the ground. He was successful as he rose five feet up.
“Good Jay, now focus on your goal. Make sure your wings know what you want, so that you both work together!” Anastasia yelled to Jay, hoping that he wouldn’t come crashing down. He went up another five feet, his pink sparks showering down on me like a dance. He rose up another four feet. Jamie reached for the deck when Anastasia heard a ripping sound. Within a second, Jamie was crashing down to the cement. Anastasia quickly flew to him, barely catching him as she cushioned his landing. They stared in horror as they saw that his wings were cut. In half.
“Jay, what the hell?” Anastasia exclaimed as she knelt forward to examine the destroyed wings.
“Ana, I don’t know, did I go too fast?” Jamie said with a stutter. “How can this be fixed?”
Anastasia and Jamie turned around to find Jonathan staring speechless at Jamie’s destroyed wings.
“Jonathan, I don’t know what happened, but we can fix it, okay?” Anastasia said as she walked over to Jonathan, stroking his arm with affection.
With Anastasia’s touch, Jonathan seemed to regain his ability to blink as he looked towards her. His face was full of disappointment as he said,
“Honey, you see how there is black sparks coming out? That means that those wings are ruined. There is a chance that Jamie won’t be able to fly again because it is extremely rare if another pair of wings choose a person.”
“Okay, okay, but there is still a chance. Jay will get new wings. He has to. Jay, go put your shoes by the front door, your new wings comes when no one is around the shoes,” Anastasia said as she paced back and forth on the sidewalk. As if on cue, Jamie’s destroyed wings rose up to the sky. The wind carried the wings into the unknown.
“Why couldn’t that happen beforehand? If I wasn’t going to be able to fly, then I just wasted an entire day of my life,” Jamie exclaimed as he kicked the pink lemonade jug across the street.
“Honey, it’s not for everyone. You’re going to be just fine” Jonathan soothingly said as he walked over to Jamie and put his arms around him. Jamie protested at first, but then leaned into Jonathan and started to shake.
Anastasia watched this horrifying moment and realized she had to do something. She could call The White Academy, where she could ask if Jamie’s wings could come in time, or if Jamie could get another pair.
Anastasia jerked up, looking at her surroundings. The sun creeped into her room, as if wishing her good morning. She realized that she was dreaming. But she knew it was so real. She raced out of bed, threw on a black hoodie, slipped into her shoes, waited half a second for her wings to adjust to her shoes, ran outside, and fluttered half a mile to Jonathan and Jamie. She told herself again and again, “It was a dream Ana, it was a dream.”
But the feeling that something is wrong stretched down her spine. She fluttered faster as she saw Jamie sitting on his porch. She nearly ran over Jamie as she said breathlessly,
“Jay, your wings. Where are your wings?”
“Geez Ana, you’re twenty minutes late and you’re asking me questions. Dad was gonna go and check on you” Jamie said.
“Jay, your wings. Where the hell are your goddamn wings” Anastasia yelled as she saw that Jamie was only wearing socks.
“Ana, they’re inside by the front door. I was waiting for you to practice. Ana, what happened?” Jamie said worriedly as he stood up. Anastasia raced inside, nearly knocking Jamie over again as she saw Jamie’s wings. His wings were resting there. Anastasia knelt down and stroked his wings. In response, his wings fluttered slightly, as if it was greeting her.
“Anastasia, good you’re here, I was just going to check on you. Is everything okay?” Jonathan said, carrying a pink faux fur coat in his hands. This time, it was a creamy pink, like Jonathan’s pink lemonade. Anastasia ran to embrace Jonathan and nearly knocked him over too.
“Honey, what is wrong?” Jonathan said alarmingly as he pulled her back.
“Ana, are you okay?’ Jamie said as he jogged to Jonathan and Anastasia. Anastasia looked at Jonathan and Jamie as a smile spread on her face as she said,
“Nothing is wrong. I just had a bad dream.”
“Oh honey, that’s all right. I don’t mind your hugs at all. In fact, I would appreciate more of them in the future. Ooh let’s decide to hug every time we meet. It’ll be just our thing,” Jonathan said in excitement as he hugged Anastasia again, stroking her hair affectionately.
“I wouldn’t mind,” Anastasia said as she hugged Jonathan tighter, making sure that she still wasn’t dreaming.
“You guys are just creepy,” Jamie said as he started to back away. Jonathan pulled Jamie with his shirt as he said,
“Son, you were born into this family. You know that this isn’t a normal family. It’s high time that you accept it boy and embrace your family. Literally,” Jonathan said as he hugged Anastasia and Jamie tighter. Jamie was flailing like a baby chicken as Jonathan laughed his evil laugh. Ana chuckled and hugged them as tight as she could as she reminded herself,
“Everything is okay, everything is okay.” Because everything was okay, and everything was going to remain okay.
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