My throat is in rebellion. I look at the water bottle I've been keeping near me, the contents within it taunting me with a promise of cool relief. My tongue seems to dry up quickly, as if a desert wind is blowing through my home and deposting the hot, gritty sand right into my mouth. I want that water. No, I -need- that water. But there's a problem: I would have to swallow it.

I've got that feeling in the back of my throat like there's something stuck there. I'm sure I have swelling in some part or another, making me feel like I've got a piece of potato chip or other item that just won't go down. The water helps, but the swallowing makes it an ordeal. I've been to this place of sickness before, and very happily those visits are short. I don't want a postcard or a t-shirt, I just want to get to feeling better and leave Sickville on the next express train. My mother's advice keeps playing on my mental speakers: drink plenty of fluids.

I give in and grab the bottle. I drink, I swallow, I endure the pain for the sweet moment of aquatic bliss. Then I lean back into my chair and try to get comfortable, watching whatever babble is on the television. A minute goes by, maybe even two, and then I start looking at my water bottle again.

I hate being sick.

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Author's Note: I hate being sick. *whine*

As many of you may have noted, I have joined the brigits_flame community...mostly in hopes that it will only add to my mad skills in writing. ;-) So if you see posts that are labeled "Brigit's Flame: XXXXXXX", you now know what's going on. I spent a lot of time reading the entries for last week's topic, and I think I will have a good experience here.

The worst thing about writing for me is that I lack the discipline of writing. I get great ideas but I'm horrid at setting myself down and making myself do the work on a regular basis. It's one of the things I have improved at slightly over the years, but the group is part of a campaign effort for me to -make- the time to write, and to write on a limited number of projects instead of endlessly starting something and never finishing anything. Right now, I would take one finished so-so story over 50 brilliant fragments.

So now you are updated. Please wish me luck if you will. Hope all of you are doing well.