The best thing for the relentless pain of RA has been distraction. Once, my distraction had been done managing a sourdough starter. Then it was hydroponics. Tomatoes and oregano grow very well. Lately, my distraction has been writing fiction. I love my characters. Even the bad guys aren’t so bad with the exception of Cyrus Pettibone. The development of the characters for my series Matilda and Her Alien and the sequel The BlueStone Colony has kept me occupied.
Bertrand and Billy Boy come to mind when I think favorites. Bertrand is an amazing man. He is about 800 years old, but he looks about 35. He was born on Solana with a mutant BlueStone gene. He grew to be a lover of country and adventure. He spent time on the other planets in Solana’s galaxy. But his favorite was to visit Earth. He loved Starbucks French Roast Coffee and the American mid-west. He loved the trees and lakes of what would become Wisconsin and Minnesota. He bought sizable properties in those states as well as in Canada and various countries around the globe.
As time passed his peaceful world became unsettled with those who had the mutant BlueStone gene. Some moved to Earth. Many tried to hide their mutation, but eventually were caught and sent into slave labor on the planet Granville. Some were entered into a lab experiment that failed and turned them into big furry people instead.
Bertrand felt the need to save them all. In Matilda and Her Alien he establishes a secret colony on property he owns in Minnesota. He fall in love. He is a man with a good heart.
Early on he felt lonely on his vas property. So he build his first android, Billy Boy. Besides his Android duties, Billy Boy became Bertrand’s friend. Bertrand believed the androids he created were touched by God and became human. They seemed to be. Billy Boy eventually became friends with Sally Ann. Bertrand made her so Billy Boy would not feel lonely in the remote cabin. Billy Boy did have a little pot belly as he liked to eat even though he didn’t need to. He wanted to have a baby like Matilda, but he wasn’t sure of the process. He and Sally Ann tried to figure it out. Bertrand felt they were on their own in this department.
Homer was Bertrand’s second android. It was Homer who helped build out the settlements and tunnel system. Together they planned and plotted. Most of the construction was done magically. Bertrand had learned a lot in his 800 years.
These are three characters in a story about refugees of another planet settling into life on a secret colony in Minnesota.
This is my distraction. Yours may be something else. I never ever thought I could write fiction. What is it that you wish for but don’t think you can do it? You know the maxim, “If you can think it, you can do it.” To help with RA it has to be something you are able to do physically, and it needs to command your full attention. I hope this helps. As tough as it seems for those of us with a disability, there is always hope for a better future.
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