I was doing so well there for a second too. Oh well. It's the holiday season and I haven't been doing anything. Mostly annoyed by the "guest" that's been in the house since January 2. She lost her house so the plan was that she stay for a few weeks until she found another place, it's December. She's still here. Her presence annoys me because she's the type of person who has to talk all day every day and I'm the type of person who likes to sit mostly in silence and talk to no one except maybe a few days out of the month when I start to feel lonely for human contact. If she's not talking, she's making noise. I swear, the other day I was ready for murder. She was talking to Ma the previous morning, then most of the evening, and then woke me up the next morning. I hadn't been sleeping well as it was, possibly because of the energy of the meteor shower, and waking up to the sound of her obnoxious voice set me up to be angry all day. I was fine for awhile thinking she had talked out all she needed to until she came in around noonish to talk some more. That set me off and I had to leave the house. Luckily, I have a really great friend who understands that sometimes we experience pure rage. I hung out with her that afternoon and played with her super fluffy cats that I'm allergic too. I don't remember ever feeling that much rage. That's a problem. Perhaps I should meditate. Being annoyed has messed with my creativity, but I see it as a lesson in self control. The fact that I haven't ripped out her vocal chords yet prove I have some sort of control, but now I need to learn how to block it out. She's very loud and hard to ignore, so I'm getting some noise cancelling headphones in a few days hoping that'll help block out the nuisance and increase my desire to write more. Of course, this could all just be me too lazy to write anything and wanting to pass the blame on to someone else. Anyway, like I said, it's the holiday season. I missed out on Hanukkah, but I'm thinking I'm going to offer up Bridge of Destiny e-book for free again from Yule to Christmas Eve. I have a few more free days available. I'll let you know when I decide the last few dates I have for that this year.
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In the interest of having a Cyber Monday sale, starting tomorrow and only for 2 days I'm offering my already low priced e-book, Bridge of Destiny, for FREE! No strings attached. I just hope you enjoy it. Of course, if you do enjoy it, a little review would be nice. You don't have to if you don't want to, but they really help me out. Be sure to click the books tab to head straight to a list of all my books including other free books and my newest published sensation, A Warrior's Path: Rise of a Legend. So check them out and let me know what you think.
I knew it wouldn't last, but at least I gave it my best shot and have no plans on giving up. Isn't that the thing that truly matters? So I skipped a few weeks. I've been working on and through some things. Not always sure what's going on. I think I just get too wrapped up in all the things that need to get done and how I'm going to tackle the mountain that I don't do any of them. Things work out just fine when I stack them up and work on one thing at a time, the trouble is that I never know which thing should take precedence. Anyway, the hose on my kitchen sink got a hole in it and the replacement hose arrived today. Super easy to install so my faucet now looks more like a faucet and less like a limp noodle. So that's cool. I've also entered a few more contests. Fingers crossed.
Okay, well, I guess I didn't really have much to talk about. I mean, I probably do have more to talk about, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was. I should really just type away on this blog when I get an idea and not on a specific date so I remember. I'm not going to change that, but whatever. I always keep trying.
Inspire, motivate, believe. Together we can change the world. Let’s all work together to make a better world. We can be each other’s cheerleader. We all rise together. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Don't you just love it when your computer doesn't feel like computing anymore? It's okay, neither does my brain. It's a strange day. I mean, it's a beautiful day, but I feel strange, mostly tired. I did a lot of running around Friday ending the day with over 12,000 steps only to get up early on Saturday to drive around a bit and ending on Sunday running more errands. I guess I just need a rest day, but who has time to rest when they're trying to accomplish something? When their dreams seem right there within reach? I used all the theiy'res.
Of course, the review that meant the most to me was the review I got from my big brother. He gave me lots of interesting insights and helpful criticism on how I could improve both my writing and my story which is great because I need helpful criticism if I'm ever going to become the best writer I can possibly be. I say he's the most important reviewer to me because he reads a lot more than I do, especially fantasy, and he has never pulled his punches when it comes to telling people how he feels, not even to me. Well, maybe to me a little bit, but I know he's telling me the truth because he loves me.
He said that the first part of the book was kind of dumb and felt a bit on the jerky side, like a person learning how to drive a stick shift. He didn't really appreciate the soap opera like parts and found them to be cheesy and unnecessary. That's his opinion. I prefer a little drama now and then in my reading, but whatever. He said everything changed for him in the second half. He said the second part was like an entirely different book. It was paced perfectly and even had him anticipating what was going to happen next, so much so that he didn't want to put it down until it was finished. There were a few issues he had that we discussed at length, and he's looking forward to the next one. All in all he said that the second part more than makes up for the shortcomings of the first and I received my big brother's seal of approval. Things seem to be going along swimmingly as I navigate this path. Some may be deterred by the slow momentum, but I think it's amazing! One is better than none and it's only going to get better from here. Inspire, motivate, believe. Together we can change the world. Let’s all work together to make a better world. We can be each other’s cheerleader. We all rise together. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I know I said last week that I was going to start sharing my fiction on Wednesday and life stories on Monday. As you can see, I didn't do that. Oops. So, in the interest of not being a complete liar and to keep my normal post schedule, I'll share an excerpt of a horror story I'm working on right now. I only have three chapters in it so far and I haven't even decided if there's going to be a big twist at the end or a regular sized twist. Heck, I haven't even decided on what voice I'm working with. I've got first person, third person, second person, each with their own chapters. I might just leave it that way, but I don't want it to get confusing. I suppose giving those chapters titles can keep the confusion down since the titles will basically be the character's name, kind of like one of those Rick Riordan novels I read once. Wish I could remember which book it was. The Lost Hero maybe? I don't know. It wasn't Percy Jackson. Where was I going with this? Not important, I suppose. Something to do with one of the novels I'm working on. I should really just pick one and stick with it like the sequel to A Warrior's Path: Rise of a Legend tentatively called A Warrior's Heart. Speaking of that novel that's been published...
“It comes for you in the dark, a creature formed from the lost souls and remains of its victims. The remains make its body grow bigger. A bigger body needs more souls. It’s vicious cycle of kill, grow, eat, and tonight it hunts.” “That’s so lame,” said Nicholas Sato. He sat under the stars around a manufactured fire pit in his backyard with his twin brother, Nathan. “Under those rules, it wouldn’t stay a secret for very long. After a few years, it would be discovered and then hunted down.” “Well then, what would you suggest?” Nathan asked. “There’s nothing wrong with the idea of a monster that regenerates itself with the bodies of its prey. I mean, it’s not an original idea, but it’s not a bad one. The problem comes with the exponential growth pattern. Can’t it just eat and hide for a few years slowly digesting its prey until it comes out to feed again.” Nathan scoffed. “It’s what actually happened. I can’t change that.” “And what’s up with the dark?” Nicholas said ignoring his brother. “I mean, isn’t it possible for it to attack when the lights are on? Push some boundaries. People feel safe in the light. Take that away from them, makes things much scarier.” “If you’re not going to listen to my weird dream then I’ll just stop talking.” “No, just thinking out loud. This dream would make a good story.” “But it’s not a dream,” Nathan insisted. “Even better.” “I see the images when I’m sleeping, but it’s not a dream.” “You dream of killing people in the woods?” Nicholas stared wide eyed. “Yes.” Nicholas was silent for a moment. “Still kind of overplayed, though, don’t you think?” Nathan tossed his hands to the sky and stood. “I should’ve known you wouldn’t take this seriously. You don’t take anything seriously.” “Aw, c’mon, Nate.” “This has really been bothering me and I have to talk to someone.” “Nathan?” “I can’t just go tell Mom. I mean….” Nathan trailed off. “She’d take you back to that place.” Nicholas finished. Nathan stood near the back door with his shoulders hunched looking completely defeated. Nicholas watched him intently. “I’m sorry, Nate. Really, I’m sorry.” Nathan glanced up catching matching deep brown eyes. He seemed sincere. “I won’t let them take you from me again, okay? I’ll listen.” Nathan slowly made his way back to his brother. He sat next to him and leaned into his shoulder. “I don’t want to go back there.” “I know.” Nicholas put his arm around Nathan. “They treated me like I was crazy.” Nicholas pressed his forehead into Nathan’s. “I know.” “I’m not crazy.” “I know.” Nathan pushed at Nicholas’s chest. “I think I prefer the asshole version of you to this.” Nicholas brushed Nathan’s hair from his eyes. “I know.” Nathan laughed then took in a deep breath. “I don’t like feeling helpless, Nick. That giant thing is after me. Maybe it is just a dream like some sort of metaphor for something else.” “Or maybe that thing is angry it lost you and it’s getting closer to finding you.” Nathan pushed away. “Don’t joke about something like that. You’re the only one who even believes me about that thing.” “I’m not joking.” Nicholas was surprisingly serious. “You’ve got some sort of weird connection to it. You’ve said as much yourself before they took you from me. If that thing is hell bent on making you a part of it, then you’ll never be safe. You’ll have to face it again just to be rid of it.” “And if it’s not real?” “Be glad you’re crazy.” “It comes for me in the dark. So many faces.” And there you go! Two birds, one post. I'll get this down one of these days, but until then...
Inspire, motivate, believe. Together we can change the world. Let’s all work together to make a better world. We can be each other’s cheerleader. We all rise together. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I don’t think I’ve put up many stories about trips I’ve had with my mom. Some of them are a real hoot. I’ll have to remedy that. Anyway, Ma and I went to Albuquerque over the weekend to for a joint birthday party thrown by one of my friends. My birthday was a few days ago, hers is a few days from now. It was a Harry Potter party. As cool as it was, I think the party was more for him than it was for us. We started off going to Cracker Barrel for lunch. I found it absolutely hilarious that they messed up Ma’s order by making one of her sides carrots. We both hate carrots. They put that plate in front of her and she just starting saying “I didn’t order carrots, I wanted apples,” almost repetitively. Just the sight of carrots seemed to offend her and they were touching her pork chop. The waitress was apologetic and went so far as to scoop the carrots off Ma’s plate when she came back with the apples.
The flavored jelly beans were pretty neat. I actually wanted to try a vomit flavored one, and I did. It tastes just like vomit which was oddly still a better flavor than some of the other candies. The chocolate shaped like flies was pretty gross. It was made from a cheap chocolate. He kept comparing it to Russell Stover, I kept telling him Stover’s is gourmet compared to the cheap chocolate those overpriced flies were made out of. I’d compare it more to those little chocolate coins you can get at a party store for filling treasure chests, but honestly even that chocolate is gourmet by comparison. Don’t eat the official Harry Potter flies.
The bees were okay. Much better chocolate and they’re filled with something similar to Pop Rocks, so don’t drink any soda unless you want your stomach to explode. There was another candy with a similar filling. I think it was trying to be an orange creamsicle. I don’t like white chocolate. Some people do and that’s fine, I’m just not a fan. At least half of the candies were white chocolate. Needless to say I didn’t like any of those. So, out of all the official Harry Potter candies, the only ones I liked were the jelly beans that were made by Jelly Belly, and the pop rock filled chocolate bees. As you can see, I know Harry Potter so well that I know the names of all the candies and all that sugar made it nearly impossible to sleep. That was it for trip, time to head home. It was mostly uneventful which isn’t always typical. I did seem to run into half of the town at one of the rest stops. There was a band competition and the last weekend of Balloon Fiesta, so of course there were a bunch of people from home there. The fun came on one of the highways. A semi started to pass a guy in a truck. It all started out innocently enough, but we started to go uphill a bit and then a turn was coming. I’m not sure why the guy in the truck towing a camper didn’t just slow down a little when he saw there was a turn coming up and a semi trying to pass. All I kept thinking was that a car could come around that corner any second and none of us would know or even see it… and that’s what happened. Another truck came flying around the turn and had to drive on the shoulder to avoid getting smashed, the semi forced his way in front of the truck, and the truck had to slam on his brakes and swerved off to the shoulder to avoid getting side swiped. I had already slowed way down when I saw the turn so I wasn’t in any danger of hitting anyone. If only that truck had done the same. The driver of the truck seemed really mad, and who wouldn’t be. It took him a minute to regain control of the camper he was towing due to the high winds, but once he did, he started speeding. The semi wanted to pass him because the truck was going like 5 mph under the limit, which was understandable because of the winds. I just stayed back after that. Better safe than dead. And that’s some stuff that happened over the weekend. Maybe next time I’ll talk about something else that happened on a different weekend, or maybe I’ll actually start sharing stories. I could pick a day for that. I’m doing pretty good keeping up with this Monday schedule thing, maybe I can add like a Wednesday story time to it. Let’s find out. This Wednesday, I’ll share a story of some sort. Until then... Inspire, motivate, believe. Together we can change the world. Let’s all work together to make a better world. We can be each other’s cheerleader. We all rise together. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Tomorrow is my birthday! Seems like only yesterday I was running around with my friends, and now we're all old with responsibilities. Don't grow up. It's a trap. How about another story from my childhood, growing up on an air force base? As usual, I don't remember how old I was, just old enough to remember. It was sometime in the 80's and it was raining hard. We lived in a house that was constantly getting struck by lightning, at least twice a year. My brother and I were on our own for a little while. Before you get all up in arms, keep in mind this was the 80's, on an air force base, and my mother was working literally three blocks away. We were only alone for half an hour tops after school anyway and it's not like we were five. Ma set the house rules and we followed them, simple as that. And if we needed help, the neighbors were always around to help out. So my brother and I get home from school in the pouring down rain and I decided I was hungry. We had some microwave burritos in the freezer so I got one out to heat up. They said to heat for 90 seconds, but I added two zeros to the end for some reason leaving the microwave to heat for 90 minutes. Maybe I was in a hurry to eat and just had jittery hands, I don't know. After a few minutes, I started to smell something funny and went to go check it out. Right as I got into the kitchen, the burrito exploded. Just as I was going to the microwave, lightning struck and shook the house. I forgot about the burrito and watched as my brother ran outside to look at the roof. Lightning strikes the house and my brother runs outside. You'd think he was an idiot, but he's actually very smart. He just does dumb things. After a few moments, he runs back in and says the house in on fire. I run out to see too, and sure enough, there was a flame, but it was raining so hard that the fire was put out. I ran next door to the neighbors and my brother went back inside where he was met with a smoking burrito in the microwave. Ma was home moments later as my brother dealt with the smoke filled kitchen. They came and got me after that was all done and they've both teased me about the burrito ever since. I know what you may be thinking. The burrito? This story was about a burrito?! Yes. Yes it was. Ignore the being left alone and the fire on the roof, this story was about a burrito. Now for some shameless self-promotion.
Sometime around the same age that I beat up that boy for being a jerk (see last post), I choked my then best friend. I promise you, I’m not a violent person, but looking back it seems I put up with a lot less garbage then than I can tolerate now. So my friend and I were going to take our dolls to the playground back in the days where kids were allowed to wander the streets without adult supervision. Parents set their boundaries on where you were allowed to go and trusted you not to go there, so you didn’t. Well, occasionally we would cross a street we weren’t allowed to go passed to get to another kid’s house we may have met on the playground, but we would always tell when we did and how long we were there and which house it was. Trust, it’s a wonderful thing. Anyway, my friend brought her new Cabbage Patch Doll and two doll strollers and I brought my say 8 year old favorite, Dolly. Not a clue what kind of doll she is. She was made in 1978 or 1979 and I had her since I was 2. I still have her to this day. I’ll just say this happened in 1988 even though I don’t remember the exact year. I just know it was chilly enough to need jackets and scarves so it was probably late November.
Some passersby, other parents in the neighborhood, intervened. They probably saved her life because I was too angry to see straight. My friend escaped and ran straight to her house while the couple started asking me what happened. I told them she called my Dolly ugly. They looked at Dolly. The woman said Dolly looked extremely loved and the man said Dolly was ugly. I kicked him in the shin.
I’m not sure how I ended up back home, but I was in trouble. My parents told me I could’ve choked my friend to death. I told them she shouldn’t have called my baby ugly. I don’t remember the punishment, but my dad was amused. Why my dad always loved it when I got in a fight I’ll never know. Nobody messes with his baby girl, I guess. Why did I get into so many fights? Anyway, if you haven’t already, here’s a few more freebies for you. Convergence and The Medallion Descriptions in the books tab or just click the link. Download them or I’ll have to fight you. I’m kidding, I’ll just be sad on my birthday. Inspire, motivate, believe. Together we can change the world. Let’s all work together to make a better world. We can be each other’s cheerleader. We all rise together. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter Not sure why, but I feel the need to share the story of my first fight. Actually, I don’t think it was my very first fight, but it was the first I ever had at school. Not that I’ve had others after, but all it takes is one for people to know they should leave you alone.
Anyway, now that that's done (you ever look at words in a sentence like "that that" and wonder if it's correct?), onto the story of the little girl who refused to be messed with.
It happened sometime in elementary school. I honestly can’t remember what grade I was in because it happened during music class, and music was in a classroom all its own. They would shuffle us, one grade at a time, to the music room during our designated hour and shuffle us back when the hour was over and then the next grade could head in for their lesson. I’m going to say it was 5th grade because that’s when kids start to turn into little monsters, but it could also very easily have been 6th. Not really that important. Anyway, we were all lined up on the risers supposed to be singing some silly song, but the boys in the back row were being little jerks. They kept reaching through the middle row with their legs and pushing the girls off the bottom row with their disgusting shoes. First one girl, then another, and then another. I got madder with every push and the music teacher didn’t seem to notice or even care that it was happening. Every girl that got pushed would try to gain her attention, but she just ignored them. I think we were working on a play at the time and she was more focused on her tone deaf soloist than anyone else in the class. My turn had come. I had been pushed off the bottom by some jerk’s nasty shoe covered foot and fell to my knees. When I looked back at those three boys looking at each other and laughing, I snapped. I’m pretty sure I launched myself from the floor, passed two levels, and onto the boy in the middle of the three on the top row. He fell back and ended up pinned to the wall as I wailed my fists on his face. The boys looked on in horror, the girls cheered me on, and finally the teacher intervened. The girls tried to explain to her what happened, but she wasn’t having any of it and I was sent to the principal. I was terrified sitting in the principal’s office. I’d never been in trouble before and they were going to call BOTH of my parents, not just my mom. My dad was a military man who liked to run a military household, so I was terrified of what he was going to say or do to me. I sat shivering in a corner seat of the waiting area for them, hoping that Ma would be first so she could protect me from him, but I had no such luck. Dad was first. He peeked around the corner and then walked straight over to me. To my surprise, he wasn’t angry, farthest thing from it, actually. He sat next to me and just started laughing. He asked if I was okay and I nodded. He started to tell me how proud he was of me because nobody messes with his daughter when Ma stormed in and made a path directly for the principal’s door. She was barely announced before she was in there with the door closed. I looked at Dad but he said she could handle it on her own. Ma scared us all on the extremely rare occasion she was angry, and this day she was livid. I heard muffled conversation for a few minutes followed by Ma shouting “And what did HE do to HER? My baby doesn’t start fights.” The secretary in the waiting area stopped typing and just looked at me. I shrugged. Dad thought it was hilarious and wrapped his arm around me. He looked me in the eyes and said “No boy ever has the right to put his hands on you. Don’t you ever let anyone push you around.” Next thing I know, the principal’s door flung open and the secretary practically jumped out of her seat to move as far away from my mom as possible. Ma marched out of the office and shouted “let’s go!” to us. I honestly didn’t want to get in the car with her, but it’s not like I could say that. Not when she’s that angry. When your parents are that angry, you can’t question anything, you might die if you do, just figure it out. We made our way to the parking lot. Ma told me to get in her car as we passed it. I looked at Dad but he just laughed and said he’d meet us at home. I sat in the car with Ma as close to the door as I could get while she fussed, but it wasn’t about never fighting, it was about winning. “You bet not ever start a fight, but if someone is trying to fight you, you better win. You hear me?” “Yes, ma’am.” “They’re going to suspend you whether you fight or not, so you win.” “Yes, ma’am.” “I want some ice cream. Do you want some ice cream?” “Umm… sure?” And that was the day I learned that my parents will stand by me no matter what and that it was okay to fight for myself, even though, at the time, I was angrier for the other girls than myself. I also created a reputation for myself. Don’t mess with me, I might snap and kick your ass. I’m nice most of the time, though. Not sure why I felt the need to share this. Maybe I’ll share another life story from my past next time. Anyway, this might be hilariously ironic after that but... Inspire, motivate, believe. Together we can change the world. Let’s all work together to make a better world. We can be each other’s cheerleader. We all rise together. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter I had an interesting time this past Friday. My friend and I were on our way to Amarillo because that’s what you do around here when you want something to do, you either visit Wal-Mart or you drive to a bigger town with a mall that takes more than 30 minutes to stroll through. On the way, we ran into a bit of a problem. At 70mph, it started out as a soft beeping like hum that slowly got louder. At first, I thought it may be her car, but I saw some machinery so I thought it was something outside getting closer. It kept getting louder even after we passed the thing I thought it was. At that volume, she finally heard it and wondered if it was her car. I started to think so too but still tried to deny it. You can’t wish trouble away. As she pressed on the brakes and before I could even finish the sentence “Maybe we should pull over and check,” the tire exploded sending rubbery bits flying and filling the air with the aroma of burning tire. At that exact moment, we came to a spot in the road where the shoulder was extra wide, a place meant for vehicles that needed to slow down enough to turn right.
So she opens up the trunk and she still has these outdoor pillows she got on sale back there. You know, those came in handy too because the road was hurting my knees. She says to grab a pillow and there you have it, problem solved. We chant the “righty tighty, lefty loosey” saying together so I can figure out which way to turn the lug nuts. We almost had to loosen those together, but once she saw I had it, she read up on how to use the jack. Every portable car jack is different. It was definitely different from mine, anyway, and it’s not like we use them on a regular basis.
I get the nuts loose enough to remove them by hand and we were ready to jack that thing up. Portable car jacks are insanely slow. My dad had a big jack in his garage that pumped up a car in two to three easy pumps. I always wish for that whenever I have to change a flat tire. Years later, the car was off the ground enough to switch. Then it was back on with the lug nuts, back down to the ground, and tightening the nuts with the wrench in a star pattern. Ready to roll. You know, it sort of bothered me that not one person pulled over to help. I mean, we could do it just fine and didn’t need help, but what if it was a case where I did need help? Sure, you’re probably thinking that I can just use my phone to call someone. Well, believe it or not, there are still places in this country where your cell phone has no signal whatsoever. We weren’t in one at the time, but those places exist if we were say headed west and not east. There was a time when I broke down somewhere in New Mexico, many a time actually, and all it took was me stepping out of the car for someone to stop. A raised hood, a raised trunk with me at the side on the ground, there were even times when someone asked if I needed help and I only pulled over to find my chips in the backseat. But in the Texas panhandle, nobody stopped. They barely pulled into the next lane like you’re supposed to do when you see someone on the side of the road and don’t feel like stopping. Good thing the tire was on the passenger side. Take care of your tires. My dad would always say “tires are the only thing between you and the road,” and things like when your tires aren’t properly aligned, it can destroy your entire car. He says the same thing about shoes and taking care of your feet. My friend said she checked her tires the night before, so that wasn’t it. I think she may have backed over something in one of our driveways or ran it over on some road. We can’t really be sure. Guardian angels do exist. When that tire blew at those high speeds, we didn’t flip, we didn’t flop, we didn’t spin. We came to a perfectly normal stop. People die from blow outs like that. We were just mildly inconvenienced. Her parents let us borrow their car so we could still make the movie she wanted to see so badly (The Nun is pretty good, by the way), and after some shopping, we made it home safely. Take care of yourself. Get yearly checkups on your health, your teeth, and whichever parts you may have that also need checking. As Ma always says, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” of course meaning it’s cheaper to get things checked and fix the problem before it breaks than it is to fix the problem after it breaks. Take care of your vehicles. Get your brakes checked once a year, check tire pressure every time you gas up, get oil changes as recommended for the type of oil you’re using, and when you get a newer car, see if it comes with an actual spare tire. They actual tire may be far more inconvenient than the Fix a Flat, but it’s reusable and can replace a tire that has exploded all over the highway. Inspire, motivate, believe. Together we can change the world. Let’s all work together to make a better world. We can be each other’s cheerleader. We all rise together. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. |
AuthorYA Fantasy author and amateur photographer living in New Mexico. A reflection of herself, her characters are timid at first but tend to stand up and push through when times get tough. Archives
April 2020
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