I wanted to share my story opening because this begins a book I will hopefully write;  it has been about three years in the preparation.

The Mushroom Tree

Zachariah stomped out of the house slamming the back door. He headed for the forest grove; his refuge and the only place he felt comfortable in this rural heartland. So many thoughts rumbled around inside his head about leaving the only friends he knew and moving from Arizona to this small Midwest community. I don’t want to live in this hick town. Why did Mom have to be the one to take care of sick old Aunt Elizabeth? When are we gonna go back home to Phoenix?

A firefly flitted over the small creek as Zachariah crossed the stone bridge and moved closer to the woodlands. A tiny glow reflected above the clear water as the firefly switched on its lamp for the coming sunset. These mystical insects reminded Zach of fairies, but at eleven, he didn’t believe in such things.

“I won’t go near the mushroom tree,” Zachariah mumbled to himself. He had sensed strange things around it that made the hair prickle on his arms and his stomach leap. The tree bark was peeled away, exposing the inner guts all sticky and oozing. Large mushrooms grew like awnings over chipped out woodpecker holes. Once he thought he saw something move out of the corner of his eye… no, he would not go that far as it would soon be dark.

As Zach walked farther away from the clearing, a clammy mist enveloped him. The unnatural fog seemed to have come out of nowhere, aromatic of almond butter snickerdoodles, leading him deeper through the thicket. He could barely see the winding path; the leaves crunched beneath his feet as he traveled. Calmness came over Zachariah as he felt himself disappear into the scenery. That’s how he felt most of the time…invisible.

Actually, David was the one who figured out how to put an avatar picture up first.  Man! I was surprised to see his picture with his comments the first time.  I looked all over the registered profile page to see where one adds a picture for their avatar, but there was nothing.  Wow, I thought this guy was really magic (most of the time he is), but then found out that he had just received an email about gravatars.

What is a gravatar?

“A gravatar, or globally recognized avatar, is quite simply an image that follows you from site to site appearing beside your name when you do things.”  And of course, as far as I know, this is the only way to get a picture on your comments and it is a free service.  Therefore, go to http://en.gravatar.com/ and sign up.  You will be able to then go to any Wordpress blog that allows pictures and see your own unique self when you post a comment.