Sunday, October 31, 2010

Miss Scissors: Reading is the Key Part 3

[I hadn't planned on this at first, but I decided that, as this part takes place stictly in the realm representing ModMouse's outside commitments and that there'd be no contact from Miss Scissors/Molly, it'd be easier to basically cut to the chase and have this part be strictly narrated. This will probably be the shortest part out of all of them. Click here for parts one and two.]

ModMouse was unable to get any reading done during the day as she was busy with her nephew...not that she didn't enjoy it. However, while he was playing a video game, she was able to sneak in some reading time. She read chapter 2 of The Passing Bells. That took 23 minutes, which means she had done enough reading time to disable one lock and would have 43 more minutes of reading left to do in order to undo the next one. Later, after watching an episode of Samurai Jack with him, she managed to get in four more minutes of reading. She had thought of putting in even more reading time, but she didn't get around to it. Will she get in any more reading in the morning before she leaves the realm? Will she do any more reading after having exited the realm? Tune in tomorrow for Part four.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Miss Scissors: Reading is the Key Part 2

[Due to circumstances beyond my control, I was unable to get this finished and posted as soon as I would have liked to. Click here for part one.]

ModMouse: Well, if I'm going to be here for a while, I might as well get some read to pass the time.
(Opens up copy of The Promise.) Maybe I can just get the 24 hours over with. (Reads remainder of a chapter.) I'm so tired. Maybe I'll get the rest of the time in tomorrow.

(The next morning. ModMouse wakes up.)

ModMouse: Isn't that something? I had this dream last night where I'm held hostage in some empty house, but it's still has furniture and everything in it and that I had to do 24 hours worth of reading in a week if I wanted to make it out alive. (Looks around her.) Apparently it wasn't a dream. (Finds a shirt and pants to wear, dresses then heads downstairs. TV turns on and Molly appears.)

Molly: Good. I see you're awake and that you have fulfilled four minutes of reading.

ModMouse: How would you know?

Molly: I have cameras installed, and if you will recall, the locks on the door have timers and any minute of reading that you do is taken off the timer until you have fulfilled a whole hour.

ModMouse: (walks up to door and sees that the timer on one lock says :56) Oh, right.

Molly: Anyway, there's something I should tell you about.

ModMouse: Another rule I don't know about?

Molly: Not exactly. Surely you have heard the saying that if you want something done, you should ask a busy person.

ModMouse: Yeah, so?

Molly: If you thought you had every minute available to you until the end of Friday, it could be very tempting to blow off the reading until the last minute. Therefore, I'm going to make you appreciate the time you do have on your hands. Throughout this game, there will be times when a wall will glow, which will take you to a realm indicating some outside business that you have. Whatever book you are on will be sealed unless you enter the realm to fulifill said business. Only after you have accomplished said business will you be able to exit the realm and continue reading. Be careful, though. Even when you are in said realm, if you have not fulfilled the 24 hours, the red gas from remaining locks will still be released and come to you and only affect you.

ModMouse: Nice.

Molly: Your first piece of business in the realm will be this afternoon when your sister needs you to come get her child. You should expect it roughly around 1:30 or 2. Unlike most of the other instances during the week, you should be able to take the books with you and read a bit when and if you have the time. You will be able to exit the realm on Sunday, though that time will depend your sister. I'd take time to prepare accordingly prepare for the weekend away if I were you.

ModMouse: Okay, so I'll pack and then fill the rest of the time by reading.

Molly: There's one more thing ModMouse. While you were sleeping, I also had a chip installed in you so that if you should attempt to mention the read-a-thon to your sister or anyone else, it will send a mild shock.

ModMouse: Okay, so I won't mention this to anyone.

Molly: I wish you the best of luck. Oh yes, I will be checking in once in a while.

(TV shuts off.)

ModMouse: Okay, so I'll take care of some stuff here and then the wall will glow at 1:30.

(1:30 in the afternoon.)

ModMouse: It's not glowing.

(2:00 in the afternoon.)

ModMouse: Okay, I don't know what is taking so long, but then maybe that doll was bluffing.

(2:15. Wall glows. In comes sister.)

Sister: Are you ready to go?

(ModMouse and Sister enter realm.)

While on the way to Sister's house, ModMouse managed to get 37 minutes of reading done on her book The Promise when she had to pause in order to get something out of the glove compartment.  After that, she managed to get the remainder of the book read, which took another 12 minutes, after which time the book vanished. As she was busy with her nephew that night, she was unable to get in any more reading until far later in the night. When she was able to read some more, she began the first chapter of The Passing Bells, and according to the clock on her cell phone, she only got in one more minute of reading. This would leave her with six minutes of reading that she needed to still do before the first lock could be disabled. Will she get enough reading time in to get that first lock undone? Tune in for another part of Miss Scissors: Reading is the Key.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Miss Scissors: Reading Is The Key Part 1

[The following will be based upon my real-life participation in Bookcrossing' Oct.-Nov. read-a-thon. It is inspired somewhat by, but not affiliated with, the Saw movie series. There will be multiple parts to this, one for each day of the read-a-thon until November 5 or until I fulfill the 24-hour reading goal whichever comes first. In the comments, I will be sure to post the "real-life" version of the story.]


(It's a late Thursday night. ModMouse wakes up in an unfamiliar but well-furnished house.)

Modmouse: Where am I?  (Hears a laugh.) What was that? Who's there? (She looks around and sees nobody, then shrugs.) Well, I don't remember coming here, so I better get out. (Walks up to door only for it to turn out that she can't open it.) What the-? (Sees that the door is surrounded by 24 locks.)

(The TV in the living room turns on, showing Molly the Doll, voiced by Miss Scissors. Molly the doll is in a black dress and has black hair.)

Molly: Hello, ModMouse. I see that you're awake.

ModMouse: What are you? One of those talking dolls?

Voice:You don't know me, but I know you. I want to play a game.

ModMouse: Why does that phrase sound so familiar?

Molly: Earlier this year, you have started taking part in Bookcrossing's read-a-thons, but you never fulfilled the read-a-thon goal of 24 hours of reading in a week. Though some of this has been justified, much of the time that could have been spent on the read-a-thon has been spent on frivolous activities. By allowing this to happen, you have done an injustice not only to your conscience but to anybody who visits your reading blog as the only final report they receive from you regarding your read-a-thon participation is that of failure. If you are not careful, you could very well lose readership as a result. I am going to teach you the importance of meeting goals if not for your own sake then for the sake of those to whom you are accountable.

ModMouse: I know I keep messing that up, but it's not like my life depends on it.

Molly: In this case, it will. The object of the game is to disable all of the 24 locks on the door, but this can only be done with the stack of books available to you, which are on the dining room table.

ModMouse: Okay, so I have to hit the locks with the books. Sounds simple enough, not that I know what this has to do with read-a-thons. (Modmouse picks up a book and bangs one of the locks with it several times.) Okay, this doesn't seem to work.

Molly: I knew you would try to physically undo the locks with the books. However, that is not how you disable the locks.

ModMouse: But if I'm not supposed to hit the locks with the books, then how AM I supposed to use the books to get out of here?

Molly: Each lock on the door represents an hour of reading. When you begin to read, you activate the timer on a lock, which will indicate how many minutes you must read before the lock is disabled. After one lock has been disabled, it will open, and the timer on another lock will be activated. As you can see, all but one book has a lock on it. (ModMouse looks at the book in her hand that doesn't have a lock on it and looks up to see that the other books in the room have locks on them.) After you have completed said book, it will disappear and another book will be unlocked and so on and so forth. You may pause your reading at any time if necessary. However, pausing the reading will pause the timer as well, which will restart when you start reading again. Do you have the discipline to accumulate enough reading time to disable the locks before the clock strikes midnight on the next Thursday night? If you do not, any locks that remain active at that time will release a poisonous red gas, symbolizing your failure. If I were you, I wouldn't put it off at all. In fact, I'd do this as though my life depended on it. The game begins when the clock strikes midnight. Read or die. Make your choice. (TV turns off.)

ModMouse: O-kay. I'm getting a little freaked out here. (Attempts to open the door herself once again along with trying to destroy the locks with the books and other objects. She gives up and sits down.)

(Clock strikes midnight. The timer on one lock shows one hour.)



Will ModMouse fulfill the 24 hours of reading before it's too late, or will it be "game over"?

TO BE CONTINUED…

Reminder About Upcoming Miniseries

Tomorrow will be the premiere of my miniseries of posts Miss Scissors: Reading is the Key on this blog. I have the first part written and scheduled to appear around midnight. (If that ends up not happening for some reason, I'll publish it manually. I'm not used to pre-scheduling my posts.)  I plan to have one part posted per day from tomorrow until next Friday or until I have fulfilled Bookcrossing's read-a-thon goal of 24 hours within the week, whichever comes first. However, as I have an outside commitment from Friday night until sometime on Sunday, part 2 may not get posted until I return home on Sunday, but we'll see.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Progress On Current Read: The Promise

I did some reading this morning. I think I did some in the past day or so as well. Anyway, I'm partway into chapter 21.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Coming Next Week: RAB-PIA Meets Saw

Next week, I will be doing a miniseries of posts here on RAB-PIA called "RAB-PIA Meets Saw".  I got this idea after having seen clips of Saw and related parodies on Youtube. (Judging by the clips, I don't think I could handle the actual Saw movies as they are gorier than to my taste.) The posts will be in connection to the October-November read-a-thon which will start next Friday and end at midnight the following Thursday.

For those of you who have been following my blog may know, I've participated in Bookcrossing's read-a-thons since earlier this year. However, I never completed the 24 hours that was set as the goal. Part of it had to do with other things I needed to do, but mostly it was because I was overly distracted with something else.

To make things interesting this time, I'm going to pretend that I wake up locked into a book-filled room with 24 locks on the door.  For every hour of reading that I complete (at once or in an accumulation of minutes), a lock will become undone. If I fail to undo all said locks before the clock strikes midnight on the final night of the read-a-thon, a red gas, representing my failure, will be set off from the locks, knocking me out for good, and it'll be game over.

Live or die (not in real life mind you), I must make my choice. Will I make the right one? (And by the way, when I do the posts, I will be known as ModMouse as that is my bookcrossing name.) Tune in October 29-November 5 to find out.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Progress On Current Read: The Promise

There was one night within the past week when I couldn't sleep, so I read chapter 17 of The Promise. Last night, during some commercial breaks, I read chapters 18 and 19. That's how far I've gotten on the reading. Needless to say, I didn't meet my goal of finishing the book by today. Maybe I'll have it done by next week.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Read A Bit More This Morning

I read a little bit more of The Promise this morning. I'm up to chapter 17.

As of next week, I plan on having Tuesday be my designated "out and about" day. For that reason, I'm setting myself a goal to have The Promise finished by that morning so that I can release it.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

More Morning Reading

I read more of The Promise this morning. I'm up to chapter 14.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Did A Little Reading This Morning

I had some time to spare this morning before taking off to go do my volunteer work at the Doggie Bag. So, I read a little bit of The Promise. I'm up to chapter 13.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Did A Little Reading In The Middle Of The Night

For some reason, I woke up in the middle of the night last night. By "middle of the night" I mean 3 something in the morning, which is part of those AM hours that are considered to still be theorectically night time.

I had a little trouble getting back to sleep, so I picked up my copy of The Promise and read it until I began to nod off. I started on chapter 11 and made it partway into chapter 12. I might read some more later.