Category: Monthly Notes

Luka’s 2020 Year-End Round-Up… It Sucked.

I honestly didn’t even know how to start this off. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to do a 2020 wrap-up because, well, 2020 fucking sucked. Not just for me, but for just about everybody on the planet. We’ve all went through some kind of negative effect from it, some worse than others no doubt, but we all lost something last year. However, through all of the lost, enduring all of the sadness and pain we’ve experienced last year, some of us managed to find some good out it. And in a crazy way, I did too. I can honestly say that all of the extra work I was stuck doing for about eight months out of last year actually lead me to what I’m currently doing today. I don’t really want to make this 2020 wrap-up too long, and I’m trying to avoid making it all about me, sorry about that, so I’m just going to get straight to all of the points I want to focus on.

First and foremost, all of us who made it through the chaotic and hectic year that was 2020, whether you were in Europe, South America, Asia, Africa, or wherever you reside in the world that I didn’t mention, you must keep this in mind. If you’re reading this: you made it. Last year was a hard time for everybody. Many of us lost our jobs due to restrictions and lockdowns, some of us were pushed to the brink of our health because we were swamped with extra work, and some just didn’t know how to cope with everything that was going on. We lost loved ones, for health reasons, for rising political talk, and people finally showed their true colors during it all. We’ve all lost something in some kind of way. But there is one thing that we can all think about.

Through all of the heartache, health risks, and broken bonds, we can say we made it to the new year. I know the road ahead may look bleak and the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t within sight, but trust and believe, making it through one more year is progress. And with the new year, it’s time for us to evaluate our own self-worth and use that for making even more progress for the new year. Know what you’re capable of and have confidence in yourself. Know you who are as a person and don’t let others talk you out of it.

In short: grab 2021 by the balls and make it the year you learn about who you are.

January Note – 1/31/2010

The orange sun started its morning rise over the city skyline, blanketing every glass building in its radiant glow. Down below, on the concrete and cement pavement, cars and people buzzed up and down the streets, beginning the usual morning rush hour—car honks, obnoxious phone calls, and quickly-forming crowds made the normal scene. Civilization was continuing on as usual. At least, that was the way it looked on the surface to the public.

Luka knew about the public cover up about the virus. From the news reports about the origins, the quick global spread, and the announcement of a successful cure, it was presented like the world avoided another epidemic. People were lining up to get vaccinated and treated. Others happily gave up their lives in the name of science.

Luka was the result of a cure that came too late.

Leaning on the railing on the roof of a building, Luka lifted her sleeve and looked at her arm. Going the length of her entire arm was a thick blue vein, starting from her knuckle. After staring at it long enough, she was able to notice the subtle pulsing from it.

“I always knew the C-Virus would backfire on me…”

What’s the best way to enter in the new year? Most people would think that creating a list of resolutions and goals for the year would be a nice starting point. I mean, who wouldn’t want to set goals for themselves? Never would I have imagined that we’d start 2020 by potentially having another world war and a new viral epidemic.

Damn, that was a dark way to start… Oh well. Contiune reading January’s Monthly Note

Luka’s 2019 Year-End Round-Up

I honestly don’t know how to start this. At some point of this year, I wasn’t expecting to even have the website up by this time. Hell, I’m actually surprised that I’m even still writing, to be honest. This entire year felt like time was flying by when everything seemed to be going perfectly. And then time came to a sudden halt whenever something stopped me from progressing forward. I’ve had some of my biggest trials and tribulations in my entire life all in the span of twelve months. I’ve seen people blossom and bring forth newly found ambitions and dreams, and I’ve even seen people laying in a still slumber inside of a coffin. Many of the bonds and relationships I have only improved and deepened, and I had to learn to let go of those who weren’t going to help improve myself. I’ve learned when to stand up and become the voice people look to when things get tough, but I also learned when to stay quiet and let a person have to go through their own lessons. Continue reading Luka’s 2019 Year-End Round-Up

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November Note – 11/30/19

The phone already rang three times today, two of the calls happening within a span of twenty-five minutes. Each one was of the utmost importance, all of them possibly changing the route of Luka’s life. Regardless of whichever one she chose, they all would be nothing but beneficial.

And now, a fourth call was ringing right in front of her.

Luka had applied to so many internships and jobs that she couldn’t keep up with which company or person she was talking to. She had to quickly go through her list of job listings with every call just to make sure she remembered.

Her phone rang three times now. She had to answer to see what kind of offer she could possibly get. Tapping the green button on the bottom of her screen, she answered, “Hello?”

The eleventh month of the calendar has come to a close, leaving only December left…

I really thought about making a dramatic openings, but I gave up really quickly. How are you lovely people doing this month?

Continue reading the Monthly Note for November

Monthly Note – 9/30/2019

Luka reached into the back of the freezer and grabbed the frozen cold compress. Realizing that her current outfit—a slightly oversized t-shirt and a pair of blue and black-stripped pajama bottoms—has no pockets. Mumbling under her breath, she took a deep breath and placed the compress between her breasts, using them as temporary pockets.

“Christ,” she whispered, “my tits might turn into cubes by the time I get back to my room.”

Trying to ignore the cold string on her breasts, Luka reached behind her and grabbed her crutches, carefully placing each one under her arms. With a slight hobble from keeping her right leg off of the ground, she took her time heading back down the hallway towards her bedroom.

Goddamn, September has already came to an end. That means fall is about a week or so underway, the Halloween adverts are playing on repeat during commercial breaks and in weekly coupon booklets, and people are bragging about pumpkin-flavored foods. Now, I honestly was never a fan of fall-inspired drinks and foods; I don’t care for it. However, if I see that something has cinnamon in it, I may give it a shot.

That is, of course, I can survive the trip outside. I’ll go into detail about that in a bit, just keep on reading. Continue reading the Monthly Note for September

August Note – 8/31/2019

The room filled with the bright orange hue of the setting sun flashing through the window blinds. The calm breeze danced around, bringing the scent of freshly cut grass into the room. The wandering cat crossed into the sun’s light, its brown eyes shining straight at the only person in the room.

However, even with the tranquil scene in front, Luka continued to stare up at the ceiling, trying to focus on the train of thought constantly derailing.

With a heavy sigh, Luka shook her head, “Everything’s just been so crazy lately. It’s crazy how just one thing can turn everything else on its head.”

The cat let out a gentle cry, prancing towards Luka and jumping onto her lap. Luka’s eyes came down from the ceiling and focused on the cat.

“I’ll make the right move. I promise.” Continue reading this Monthly Note

June Note – 6/30/2019

“And then when my wife came back into the living room, I asked her why her friend was acting like such a hoe whenever they go out. Her friend always has all these guys over, having crazy parties and all that, and then–”

“Jesus fucking Christ, please shut the fuck up!”

Luka’s patience had run its course; her mental strength was completely gone, and she didn’t care about hurting his feelings. Looking at her coworker with an angry look, she told him off. “I’m just trying to enjoy my quiet lunch break, and then you come out of nowhere wanting to start a conversation about some bullshit your wife has to deal with. Can you please, for the love of God, go away and let me sleep?”

Luka’s coworker stated back, his glasses starting to fog up from the humid air in the store. His head titled like a curious puppy, trying to process the assault of words he just endured. After a strange few moments of silence, he finally answered.

“So I told my wife my opinion about the situation.”

An annoyed groan came from Luka as she slammed her head onto the small lunch table.

Why do I work with such idiots…?

Hello all, and hello summer! It’s that time of the year when the bright yellow star in the sky gives up a longer time in the heat and gives us the chance to enjoy nature’s way of helping us cool down. It’s also that time of the year when it’s eight o’clock at night, but it still looks like it’s six. That can be confusing as hell, right?

Anyways, how have y’all been this month? I didn’t even realize that the entire month came to an end already. Then again, I’ve been going through a lot this month, so I guess being busy all the time made me lost track of time. Hell, sometimes I thought I was a day ahead, thinking it was Tuesday when it was actually Monday. True story.

There’s not much to talk about in this Monthly Note in regards to the website, so this note will be rather short. Stated last month, I began working on updating the website with a new format for posts and an overall new website look. I may even update my logo a bit. I’m still working on that, as I have picked out a few different format options I like. I’m just fine-tuning everything first before it goes live, so bear with me just a bit longer. When it’s up, I’ll create a post.

Normally this is the part of the post where I talk about the website and story work, the longest part of the post. For this month, my life is actually taking the spot light.

Some of you may have read on here or saw some of my Tweets about this, but recently I got accepted into a summer writing internship. I’m so excited for it! This is my first actual job/work related to writing. Although it’s only lasting two months, I’ll be creating articles and content for an upcoming event later this year. It’ll involve me having to interview people—and you guys know I’m not very outward and social—but I will try my best regardless. On top of this, I’ll still be working full-time at my normal day job, so my days will be rather full. But don’t worry, I’ll still keep writing and posting on here. I’ll just have to schedule things a bit earlier than normal, so I want to apologize if things post at weird times or if something gets posted twice.

I’ll also be working on giving more variety on a weekly basis. I also have a special idea that involves your input, but I’m working out the kinks of it. You’ll be in the loop soon!

Sorry if this note seems to be all over the place. Just wanted to keep you guys updated on everything. And as always, if you have questions, feel free to email me or shoot me a tweet!

Love y’all!

$May Note – 5/31/2019$

May Note – 5/31/2019

The massive stack of boxed wine towered higher than the tallest skyscraper in the city, casting its shadow over the only stock person on shift; Luka couldn’t help but groan at such the large delivery that was brought into the store.

Contemplating just how important the job really was, Luka shrugged yawned, turning around to go to the break room, “Fuck this, I’m going on lunch. Somebody else can take care of it.”

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April Note – 4/30/2019

Luka stared at the blank monitor, annoyed at the lack of inspiration coming to mind. In an attempt to try and speed up the process, Luka decided to quickly chug down a favorite beer—one of the Belgian variety—and waited for its affects to hit. After ten minutes of waiting, Luka gave up and sigh.

“Fuck this, let me just jot something down for later.”

Hiya, everybody! I’m sorry for tricking you into thinking that this would be a story of some kind. I mean, it still kinda counts as one, but let us not get into technicalities; I hate them. How have you guys been doing? Did you finish any kind of goals you guys set for yourselves? Did you do something unexpected, and now you like it? Took any risks to have fun? Regardless of the result, I hope you all are nice and healthy, and that things are going your way.

I wish I could say the same for me. But you guys don’t have to worry; the website and stories are just fine. As some of you guys may have noticed, I didn’t do a “Monthly Note” for March. Reason being is, last month, I’ve decided to take that plunge into the writing and publishing industry and have been applying for internship in that field. Now, noting the fact that I don’t have a degree or real relevant experience in the field, I’ve been either getting no response from internships or getting rejection letters. Of course it’s discouraging and hurts, but I haven’t let it stop me from sending my resume to jobs in the hopes that I can get a foot in the door. If things all turn in my favor, I can potentially leave my normal day job and move on to a job in this career. Wish me luck!

Now, enough about myself. I know you guys don’t come here to read about my daily, boring life (but if you do, let me know, and I’ll bore you to death.) It’s time to switch topics to the website and story stuff

Recently, throughout April, I’ve been experimenting with story posts. What I’ve been doing is taking the idea behind 100 Word Story and expanding on it. So what my current plan is, Monday through Friday, I will post a 100 Word Story every day, all of them connecting to a single story. To give it some variety, each month with be focused on a different genre or theme. What I eventually want to do is have you guys vote on what the genre or theme of the month will be, so that’s a work in progress. On top of that, I’ll still be posting stories like usual. I’ve been trying to organize myself on what stories I want to finish immediately, which ones can wait and which ones will be on-going. Right now, my key stories are “Home Improvement” and “Don’t You Remember?” I want to apologize if updates to these stories aren’t coming out so quickly, as that’s a thing I’m trying to work on.

On the plus side, I will be more open to posting random tidbits and spontaneous stories I’ve written throughout the month. I know most of my stories are no longer than three pages, and I’m not sure if you guys like it or not. I’m trying to figure out a way where you guys can openly share with me what you like and dislike, but for now, don’t be afraid to send me emails. I’d love to hear feedback on what you guys are thinking.

I’ve also been working on a little personal story project for myself. I haven’t shared anything about it online (kind of) and I don’t really plan on to for the time being. I will give a small idea on what it is: She’s the fastest gunner of the west.

Anyways, I hope I’ve answered any questions y’all have for me. As always, don’t be afraid to contact me or hit me up on Twitter if you have questions or concerns. I’m always available to talk to you lovely people.

I hope you guys have a good one!
P.S: Alex and Sam are trying to figure out what year is it.

— Follow Luka on Facebook and Twitter for more content and a look into Luka’s life!

February Note – 2/28/2019

Two months down, ten more to go. It just hit me that March starts tomorrow. This year seems to be flying by already.

Hey, everybody! It’s the one, the only Luka. How is everybody doing this year? Have you been sticking to any New Year’s Resolutions? Did you reach any goals you had set for yourself? Hopefully the universe has been hitting you with some good fortunes and prosperity for the rest of the year. Did anything new happen in February, hopefully things that turned for the better? As for me, this month has been rather… hectic in a certain aspect.

Life at home has more or less been the same: nothing new really happened aside from me getting some more books. I did actually buy a new laptop, so that was something I was really excited about. I can run more programs at once without a hitch and I can game a bit better, so there’s that. But besides that, nothing new has been happening at home. It’s at my day job that’s been going through major changes, and not necessarily for the better, neither.

My body has been immensely sore and tired from the last two weeks, having to pick up some extra slack from work overload. We’re currently in need of extra people to help out, but none has came around and it’s making everybody tense and stressed out. And on top of that, one of the my co-workers that I was close to was let go due to certain circumstances, so that had me pretty bummed for a day or two. People always tell me “you’re young, your body will bounce back.” And honestly, nowadays with the hardships of trying to make a living in high-rent areas, being young doesn’t always mean our bodies can take a large amount of stress before we start to break down. However, I am in the process of trying to find something new more suited to what I want to do, which is write—articles, stories, columns and panels, doesn’t matter. I’ve already applied to a few things this month, but I haven’t heard anything back yet. Let’s hope something sticks and I can move onto something new!

Now, it’s time for the website updates!

There are none. And that’s not even a joke; I don’t really have any new updates coming for the website. Earlier this month, I began updating the tabs and sorting systems for whenever I make a new post. I deleted some categories and created some new ones for when people want to browse through specifics in stories and posts. I’ve also been running through all of my previous posts and updating and changing their tags and categories as well in order to be more in-tune with the new update. I’ll also be doing some light editing of everything as well for little typos and errors I’ve made. I have been thinking about changing the page layout as well to a new template, but that won’t really be occurring within the next month or two, just light changes for now.

As for updates with story works, nothing too big to report. I’m almost done with the Child at Play series and began working on the next horror story. Work has continued on Don’t You Remember? and it will begin new updates starting March 2nd. I just realized that March starts in, like, a day, so I’ll let you guys know in a week if I’ll be doing March Monster Madness again this year. However, if there’s some kind of monthly trend going on for March, I might try to dabble with that instead. Alex and Sam’s Daily Life is still on hiatus, but not for long. And aside from those things, I don’t really have any major projects coming up. I’m trying to limit my workload so I don’t burn myself out too quickly.

Sorry that this Monthly Note was so brief and not too many new things are happening. As always, I would like to thank everybody who takes the time out of their day to read my work, and I appreciate and love every single one of you guys!
Enjoy the rest of your day and be on the lookout for new stories!

Love, Luka.

January Note – 1/31/2019

HAPPY NEW– Nah, fuck it. Using an opening line like that would have been a month old at this point. I probably should have opened up with some kind of cheesy pun like I do with my usual posts. Then again, I’ve been feeling a bit down and tired lately. I hope I have a HAPPY NEW YEAR.

There… I did it… You’re welcome.

Okay, but seriously, how have all you guys been doing in the first month of the new year? Have you been keeping up with any resolutions you made? Did you start off the year on a positive note? Personally, I’ve been doing okay; work’s been hectic, and the city has been in a freeze like every other week, so there’s that. I’ve also been reading a lot more, like a lot more—I have at least a dozen novels I need to go through, and that’s not including the tons of manga I haven’t touched yet. I managed to throw myself back into video games again. I actually just finished the Resident Evil 2 remake that came out on the 25^th and I had a blast through all of it, even though I played on the hardest difficulty and died a lot. But enough of my personal life. Let’s get onto the story stuff!

But before that, I have an announcement to make. As of Sunday, January 27^th, I finally reached 100 followers on WordPress. When I got the notification saying that I reached that achievement, I honestly thought I was seeing things. Even now, I’m still surprised that that many people became followers for my website. And then on the 29^th, I hit 1000 likes across everything I’ve posted. I know that in today’s day and age, numbers like these are barely anything, but for an average person like me, this is one of the biggest achievements I’ve ever had for myself. And the only way I could reach numbers like this is because of you lovely people. I’m truly grateful for every single person who reads my stories, whether it’s every time a new one gets post, or just on a select series that only updates once a month. It makes me happy seeing people comment on things they liked and voicing their opinions. And there are many of you who’s actually been following my work since I barely had anything to share, so you guys are absolute veterans and have seen how my work’s changed and grew over time (and hopefully getting better, too.) And all of the people who started following within recent months, I’m ecstatic that you’re sticking around and bearing with me with my works. I truly appreciate everybody, and I couldn’t make it this far without you.

Now, onto the main points. Don’t worry, it’s brief.

January has been a testing ground for me in terms of creating a stable and doable posting schedule. And although a lot of the things I posted lately haven’t really been too long, it has been taking some time to type up. In case anybody didn’t know, I am a fan of classic story-writing using pencil and paper, and when a story is complete, I type it up. That alone is a process. However, for the 100 Word Story stuff I do, I generally type up all of those since it’s a lot easier for me to keep track of my word total, making sure I don’t go over. And yes, I seriously follow that rule, those stories being exactly one hundred words. So, with that in mind, I’ve decided to come up with a nice little test run schedule. I’ll be posting three times a week, two of those posts consisting of two 100 Word Story posts. The third post will be a longer story, ranging anywhere between 500 to 1000 words. I’m going to continue testing out posting like that, so bear with me for the time being.

As for current series stuff, I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll make this quick. The current story for Legends of the Dark – Child at Play is nearing its finale. I wanted it to go for a bit longer, but I have other things I want to work on, so I’m trying to wrap it up. Don’t You Remember will be returning within two weeks after a hiatus. As for Alex & Sam, I’m thinking really hard about this one, as I may want to restart them to change up some details to make it a bit more easy to work with. If you have any questions about smaller series I’ve done in the past, feel free to email me and I’ll answer them as best as I can.

Wow, I didn’t realize how long this thing was going to be—I hit the second page of my word processor. I guess once my fingers start typing up what my brain is thinking, I can’t stop. However, I need to force the break or else this would go onto being the length of a short story… I like that idea. I’ll save that for later. But anyways, that’s it for this Monthly Note. Once again, I want to thank all of you guys for sticking by me this entire time, and I hope I’ve been doing right in your eyes.

Thanks for reading!

– Love, Luka.

Luka’s 2018 Year-End Round-Up

I did my best! Or, at least, I tried to do my best.

Geez, I didn’t realize just how quickly 2018 has went. So much has happened this year, both good and bad, but that’s just how life is. Okay, that all I’m gonna do for the boring philosophy for this post. Time to move onto the better stuff!

Just the other day I was looking at all of the stuff I wrote across this entire year, and I’m actually surprised by how many things I managed to share with the world. So many various dark and murder scenes, stupid lines that made me fall on my ass and laugh, and even a few things that made me tense up and cringe about what was happening. There were so many stories where I had a page or two of decent writing done that I never finished, but left on the back burner just in case I ever got around to finishing it (I didn’t.) And then there were numerous pages where only one line was written, and I had no memory whatsoever about why I wrote that. All those hours of me staring at a blank page or a blank screen just waiting for an idea to come eventually turned into the dozens of stories I’ve written this year. And I’m actually pretty proud of myself. I honestly thought I would give up on everything by this year was over, but I fought that fear and kept pushing on. And I’ll keep on pushing straight through 2019!

The more I wrote this year, the more I began to understand what I truly enjoy writing the most, what’s the hardest thing for me to try and write, and what I need to improve on to make my writing better. As it may be a bit obvious to see, I’ve been writing a lot of horror stuff of various kinds, mostly ending with some kind of character death or gruesome scene. I’ve also been writing a lot of stories where there’s a villain who completely decimates the hero or some innocent soul caught in the crossfire. And honestly, I really, really like stories like those. So heads up for next year: get ready to see some horrific and bloody villains and anti-heroes!

Alright, enough about the good parts of me. Time to focus on you, the readers who’ve been reading my stuff! You have no idea how much I’m grateful and how much I appreciate each and every single person who visits my site and read my works. When I first started out writing in high school I never showed anybody my stories—I wrote for fun. Now, just a couple of years later, I got people who want to see my stuff. Now I’m writing for fun for myself and for others. I never imagined that I would start a website just for that. And it’s all because of all you wonderful people who remember my website or keep up with what I post on social media, and I love all of you because of it. When I first started the website, I assumed that the only people who would see my site would be people in the United State, the same country where I live. But as time went on people from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, India, Scotland, Russia, and dozens of other countries that I could list (but won’t because that list would be too damn long) started reading my works, and I was surprised as hell. There are people from literally all over the world to keep up with my stuff, and it just brings a giant smile to my face. I can’t thank you guys enough for it.

I’m sorry for the lack of posting in December. My jobs was in the holiday rush and I was burnt out every day, so I was just trying to rest whenever I can. But don’t worry. It’s almost over and I’ll be back to normal in just one more week. So prepare for more stories again!

I’m terrible at closing articles, I’m just gonna leave you guy with this.

Thank you every person who reads my stories, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year, and I’ll see you all in 2019!