Fireflies in the Summer & Other Short Stories

Chapter 1

As the car pulled away and she turned to wave back one more time, she could hardly believe it. Yes, they were on their way and how they had arranged this time away was still amazing. Well, to be perfectly honest, she had never in her wildest dreams imagined that she would have been able to pull it off with such panache. Ten days away. Ten whole days! First of all a long weekend away, with her best friend Daz and then the rest of the week away with her lover! God, her life was full of secrets these days and had been for the last six months. If anyone had asked her: what will you be doing in 6 months from now? She would have just tilted her head and answered: ‘the usual’.

She and Daz had known one another for a long time, but their deep friendship had begun after Lot has moved away. Then they suddenly realized all the missed chances over the years, because when they met sporadically these days, but the friendship had taken on new depths. They both were married and had grown up children now but in some of other way, despite their age difference, they had becomes best friends. ‘You know what we need?’ Daz would often say when they met up every three months of so, ‘we need a weekend break together, a couple of days to relax and just chat on, there is just never enough time and then when you have gone back, I realize how much I miss our face-to-face meetings. App’s are fine, but it is just not the same’. ‘Agree’ replied Lot but they just talked about it and then again the next time they met up.

One sunny morning Lot received an app from Daz: She wrote: ‘You know I have been droning on about a weekend away, well I HAVE to have a weekend away, do you think you can get away?’ Lot rang her back on Facetime, ‘what’s happened?’ she enquired. ‘Too much to chat about but how about this for an idea? We could go to a wellness centre and have a couple of days being totally pampered?’ Wow that sounded such a good idea and just what Lot felt she needed. ‘Where?’ she asked. ‘Well’ Daz said. ‘I was thinking about that amazing wellness/spa place in the south of the country and I just happen to know that there is a park nearby where you can hire a house for a long weekend and we could just fill our days and have the full package of treatments!’ ‘Sounds wonderful’ Lot replied.

Later that day she approached the subject with her husband who had just caught the end of the Facetime conversation. ‘Daz has asked me if I would like to go on a short holiday with her, troubles at home and she needs a break’. Surprisingly he agreed and said it would probably do her good, a bit of ‘girls only’ time and a break as she had been working really hard this year with several projects on the go at the same time. Immediately Lot’s brain started to think. What if she could combine the idea with a week away with her lover? What if she could find some way to combine the two? Meeting him was tricky (if near impossible) to say the least, but this might just open the door for her to arrange something. Anything just to mean that she could spend some time with him. Up until now their meetings had been brief, dinners out and a couple of times a night away, but apart from that it was all top secret and actually very complicated.

In the meantime Daz booked a lovely little cottage style house, easy walking distance from the wellness centre and they both spent a couple of days on Internet looking up what treatments were available and both made a list. They laughed out aloud when they had virtually chosen the same things and Daz made a simple phone call and booked them into two days of sauna’s, haman, scrub sessions, a dead sea mud experience, something called a chocolate rasul, (whatever that might be?) pedicure, manicure, facials and such like. The water at the spa came from a natural source deep in the ground and was renowned for the bubbles it had, like champagne, they joked. Daz had to keep to her rather strict diet, she had several food allergies, but Lot was so easy going on that score she was happy just to go along and not drinking alcohol or either eating anything apart from vegetarian food, was to her all part of this package.

Unbeknown to Daz, she had been busy making her own set of arrangements. After consulting her friend, she found the most amazing house to rent for the week and when she and Daz were on their own having their weekend she would tell her all about their relationship. It would be a relief actually, she thought to have someone to talk to about him, because up until now she had not told a single soul. Their relationship was delicate and because of the circumstances, not to mention the fact that she was married, made it even more complicated. She had met him unexpectedly a few months ago and it had been something really special right from the word go.

The drive down was easy and took about three hours. They found the little park close by and checked into their house for their stay. It was lovely, modern and clean, it would be perfect. They then had some lunch and did a bit of shopping, ready to step into their programme the following morning.

That evening after an easy meal, they weren’t very hungry after the large lunch, they talked and talked. Lot had given in and actually bought a couple of bottles of her favourite wine and they agreed that perhaps no alcohol this weekend was taking things a bit too far!

Daz started her story first. Lot knew her husband and also her two children and that Daz loved to travel and did so often with another friend. Lot was quite envious of her stories in the past, all the exotic places she visited and of course it was almost a foregone conclusion that at some time she would meet someone who stole her heart. Her marriage was similar to Lot’s, a sort of slur, a habit, a lot of memories, but the spark had been extinguished in some way or another.

It must have been the wine that made it easier to talk and Daz told her that she had met this amazing man one night on the beach. ‘I just looked at him’ she said ‘and knew, this man is something special’. Apparently they walked for hours along the shoreline, talking and talking. It was her second trip back to that country which had really started the ball rolling and together with another girlfriend, they had made very secret arrangements to meet up with these two men and spend a holiday with them.

‘God’ Lot thought. Daz continued and broke her thoughts. ‘He is just amazing’ she said ‘and my goodness they are so right about Latin lovers!’

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MORE THOUGHTS ON ROMANTIC SCAMMERS AND SUCH LIKE

I am afraid I have to write another blog for you all following on my recent one entitled “Scammers are Scumbags”.

Little did I know that my words would become a sort of trending topic/hype all over the globe. Not that I consider myself to be anything particularly special or that I wrote something magnificent, but my words certainly resonated with a lot of people.

Before I go on, a huge thank you to all of you who shared your stories with me, by email. My INbox was overflowing. Each and every story was so sad. I could resonate with a lot of things people said. I was glad that I shared my own personal story.

But out of all the negativity something always positive happens. My own contact with two people whose photos are stolen so much and used by these scammers.
Dr.Fernando Gomez Pinto, A Brazilian neurosurgeon and Thomas Lindegaarde Madsen, a Danish sea Captain working for Maersk.

I have sort of become ‘friends’ with them both in a positive and legit way. Sharing thoughts about this whole sorry saga.

Yesterday evening Thomas put out a poll via Facebook having received a really nasty comment from someone that it was his entire fault. WHAT?

Seriously, it is his fault!! I don’t think so. It prompted me of course to respond to the many comments on his page. The majority supported him but this morning I was shocked to learn that 37% of the people (women) said it was his fault. Come on get real everyone. It is not his fault at all!

Thomas is, in my mind just as much a victim, as those who are scammed by those using his photos. A really nice looking man, true, but someone with a good heart and a good job. In a happy relationship with his husband. Thomas has openly said he is homosexual and with a responsible job like his, does anyone reading this honestly think he has the time or the inclination to be chatting away on IG or whatever, asking for money, ITunes cards or making romantic approaches to people. No of course NOT.

People actually enjoy what he shares about his travels across the world and this should not be a reason for him to stop. So please don’t Thomas.

What shocked me most of all is how vicious people are in their comments and I wonder would they have actually said this to his face?

Look once and for all, to my mind, these scammers really have to be stopped.

Just by chance I saw a TV programme here in Holland about a lady who had been contacted in a similar way by a British man living in South Africa. She was conned out of 65.000 Euros. The TV followed her story and investigated. Her so-called romantic scammer was a man living in Accra, Ghana. In a pretty posh villa too with an expensive car on the drive. The TV crew under Police assistance tracked down this man and confronted him. I so wish you all could have seen his face when she removed her wig (for disguise) and said: ‘Do you know me now’? He looked as if he was about to die on the spot.
The Police arrested them all. Unfortunately she will never get all her money back, but she did get his car (worth about 10.000 Euros). So nice job.

This has to be a wake up call for all of you out there. Stop and think!

I looked at my own IG profile and it was quite shocking to see that my viewers over the past few weeks have been 50% males from Lagos, in Nigeria.
WAKE UP CALL BIG TIME.

So my new golden rule is, although I love to be on social media, mainly for my work and also for friends and such like, if I get any messages or requests and I am in any way suspicious is: A simple Golden Rule. Delete, Block, Report.
Simple as that.

Worried about missing out or losing friends? Don’t be. The genuine ones will get through to you.

Recently someone reacted to one of my posts about my hip replacement, a man in the USA who had exactly the same surgery a week before me and enquired simply, how I was getting on. We have talked together since then, and quite a lot, mostly via Whatsapp. This means exchanging phone numbers. A risk? Maybe. But my gut feeling about him right from the first message was that it was ok. It is and we chat once a week or so about things in general. He shared a photo with me of his family and I did the same. We have a lot in common and have said that to one another. So there is nothing wrong with that. Don’t succumb into thinking that EVERYONE has an ulterior motive. They DO NOT! Do not paint everyone with the same brush. There are some really lovely genuine people out there.

But for every good person, there are a lot of bad people. They have nothing better to do than sit behind their laptops chatting to people, making them a victim by saying nice things. Do you remember in my first blog I said: ‘Flattery will get you everywhere’. It does. If you are alone, feeling down and looking for attention, then you are the type of people they are looking for. Recently divorced, lost your partner because of illness, vulnerable. You are the ones they want to contact with. They will flatter your ego, fall in love with you and then the trouble begins, because you are taken in by it all. They ask for help in all sorts of guises, but it all comes down to the same thing: money. That is all they want. Nothing more. They are not looking for a long-term relationship, only money. In actual fact they do not give a damm about you personally.

So thank you everyone for everything you shared. It’s tough I know. But just be glad, if you read anything recently either from me, Fernando or Thomas, the sole purpose was TO SHARE AND MAKE PEOPLE AWARE.

Keep safe, if in any doubt: delete, block and report.

Keep your social media accounts safe. You can actually apply for a ‘verification status’ on IG. Look in your settings. I say apply, there is not a guarantee that you will actually receive. But try you can for sure.

Again and at the risk of keep repeating myself. If you have any doubt, do not enter into conversations with people you don’t know. Never send them money, gift or ITunes cards. No matter how sob the story is. Do not be enticed to send any details about yourself personally and never give ID or bank account details.

A little bit more awareness of what we all share on social media is all we  need to look at. We all do it. It is a sign of our times.

Unite and let’s all try and put a stop to this once and for all. They used to enter into our social media via Facebook Messenger. Now it’s Instagram. Or Dating Sites. Instagram is part of Facebook. So complain to Mark Zuckerberg! He is the CEO of Facebook. Make them take more care with our information. Be more secure. Or the alternative is that everyone deletes their accounts and he will certainly not want people to do that for sure!!

Lonely people being targeting by dangerous gangs of people. Take care.

Remember what I finished off my blog with last time:

Use your Head and not your Heart. Please for your own sake.

Special thanks to Fernando and Thomas for sharing thoughts with me about this and the attention it has received around the world. You are both very nice people. I am sorry for all of the horrid comments you both get sometimes, the blame people pass onto you. IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT! Stand tall and know you are so much better than all of that. You both know you are good people with good hearts. That is all that matters. Clear the clutter aside.

And move on.

 

 

Image: from Google Images, source unknown

AS THE YEAR DRAWS TO A CLOSE …

This morning the first post I saw on Facebook was to remind me that it is now only 64 days until Christmas. 64 days!! No surely not? And if so where has the year gone?

Looking back I personally can only say that this year has been a year of absolute ‘highs and lows’ for me.

In some or other the way the year drawing to a close always becomes a moment of reflection for many reasons. For some there is a longing for the incredible weather we have had this year in the Netherlands. One of the hottest, sunniest and driest summers on record. And even though lots of us were complaining that it was too hot, we all enjoyed that ‘outdoors lifestyle’. This year actually planning a BBQ at the weekend was an absolute possibility.

However, nature has taken its toll. A lot of trees and shrubs have been starved of water. Normally there is a sufficient amount of rain in the year, but we sort of experienced the autumnal season here in the summer, because the leaves were drooping and eventually dying. To my surprise, we are having autumnal colours here at the moment; the remaining leaves are changing colour and dropping when it’s windy. But it is all going so fast.

Yes, the entire year has gone so fast. It only seems five minutes ago to me that it was Christmas 2017 and now the shops are stocking up and full of things for Christmas 2018. I always jokingly say that we should just leave our tree up and not bother taking it down, putting away all the decorations, but it seems as if time is literally flying. Is it because I am getting older, have there been so many things going on? Well on that score, I can answer a definite yes. 2018 has been quite a year for me personally and dominated by health issues, all of which I am happy to report are now solved.

But it has taken a lot out of me. Where I normally say to be people that ‘recovery’ is really my thing, it got harder. It got harder to keep on finding the inspiration to get up and go. I have no idea why? Maybe three operations in one single year were too much, but it just happened and on that score, it was for a good reason.

I often find that when the universe literally stops me in my tracks (and it is always a health issue that comes up), it is a sign for me that I have to stop and take note of something. An issue confirming that I am out of balance. I am not listening to my inner voice. Just tending to plod on with things, even though I may not agree with them anymore.

I have been involved in so called ‘spiritual issues’ right from the moment of my birth. So this is really nothing new for me. When the physical body and mind become out of balance, then the signs appear. It can be either small or big issues. From a simple headache to a total burnout. Or even worse.

What is to blame? Well there are so many reasons, I cannot even begin to write about them all, but the main reason is that these days we spend our lives in one big rush and we do not want to miss anything. We push ourselves to our absolute limits all the time and then eventually the physical body starts to show signs, telling, or more appropriately, warning you to make changes. Do we listen? Often not.

Society puts so many demands on us these days, we do not have time to move into the slow lane and evaluate.

Looking back on my year there have been some really surprising things. One of which is the end of a long friendship. It was really painful believe me. Having known someone for such a long time, shared so much and then to stand on the sidelines and watch them destroy their life, their partner, their family and all because they have been blinded by something so wrong. Despite all the good advice from every corner, they became totally blinkered to the truth and have made a path of destruction. It made and still makes me sad. There is nothing you can do.

Having watched this happen during my periods of recovery, it showed me that there is something we, as humans, are all craving for. More Love. Love is a really big key issue. Or rather the lack of it.

How often have you been confronted in situations where you have been left standing there flabbergasted by the way someone treated you? Many times? Yes, be honest I bet there is not a single person reading this blog who is not nodding their head in agreement. There is so much lack of tolerance these days between people. We are so focused on material possessions and this has become a total status symbol on how we stand in life.

Important are things like gadgets, homes, cars, jobs, positions, how high are you up the ladder and more important how high did you set the bar for yourself. We no longer seem satisfied with simple things in life. Everything has to be big and major.

As we make our way up to Christmas, the so-called season of ‘goodwill and joy to all mankind’ it is almost laughable. The way we treat fellow human beings these days leaves a lot to be desired. Tolerance? A huge lack of. Kindness? Ditto.

What is going wrong in the world and when does it stop. Literally billions of money is poured into the most ridiculous things. One of my big pet issues at the amount is the money, for example, football players receive in transfers. Oh come on; it is sport! Football is just kicking a ball around a pitch and yes I will say, you have to be fit, if you play for national and international teams, and yes then you have your own self-worth, but this is totally over the top these days.

Billions are poured into warfare. The most lucrative business ever. Why not spend the money building up nations and countries, which have been reduced to rubble. Helping the never-ending stream of asylum seekers in their own country. Ensuring that each and every individual on this planet has the very basic needs. Is that so much to ask?

2019 is going to be a ‘3’ year (just add up the numbers) 12, which reduces yet again to the 3. Three is the first number of the universal building blocks. Sacred Geometry. Sacred Geometry is in everything. The tetrahedron (or triangle). That is maybe food for thought! Maybe it is time to start re-building. Not only our personal lives, but lives of everyone sharing this planet with us. Remove the weeds, plant new seeds.

Set new goals, in all walks of life. Personal or otherwise.

It is time everyone, believe me, we cannot continue on this roller coaster ride. It is time to make change. So maybe if you, like me, think my goodness only 64 days to Christmas, the end of 2018 and into the New Year of 2019, then have a really serious think. What can you do yourself to bring change? What can you do to ensure that there is more love in the world? What can you release that no longer serves any purpose for you. Do you really need all these material possessions? Be honest. I know that I do not. There is really in this world one thing that money cannot buy and that is health.

We need to respect our bodies more, if we do not respect ourselves, how on earth can we respect others? Think about this.

All images from Google Images.

POSSIBLE PROBLEMS ON INSTAGRAM

Hi everyone,

A little note from me which is a bit off topic from my usual posts. For those of you following my feed you will have seen that I recently wrote a blog entitled “Scammers are Scumbags’. This blog has gone viral ALL OVER THE WORLD! Why? Well I will tell you…read on please.

Like many of us these days and certainly people who are connected on all social media, my blog caught the attention of many people. I also shared it with two of the victims who photos are stolen by scammers and used in false accounts: Dr. Fernando Gomez Pinto (who I mentioned in my blog) and Thomas Lindegaard Madsen, a Danish ship’s captain working for Maersk.
Over the past few weeks since the blog was published my own Instagram account has been inundated with requests from people who want to follow me. Yes, I am perfectly happy with that and grateful that they enjoy my work. I get literally hundreds of emails and comments on my blogs every day and I share them (well the majority of them) in the feed so that others can read, especially when people ask questions or need help.

It must have been this that had an effect on my own Instagram account. Every day lots of new followers and lots of messages. I knew almost immediately that they were fake. Some using the photos of Dr. Fernando GM or Thomas L Madsen. They always begin with the words: ‘Hi’, Hi pretty’, ‘how are you?’ Also most accounts are a combination of names and numbers.

My own Instagram is JillianKramer12. A number too. This is purely the number of the house where I live and I have used this also for my website and email. The number has a special meaning for me, as it makes the 3, the first universal number, the first sacred geometrical shape, a triangle or tetrahedron. Nothing more than than.

Recently Dr. Fernando GM made a declaration on Instagram, talking live in his own language Portugese and also in English, about this subject and many  people reacted to it. Including me (albeit in a private message to him). It is good that we joined forces with one another and as a team work towards stopping these people.

You may remember I did say in my blog ‘flattery will get you everywhere’. It makes you feel good when someone compliments you. No one wants to be rejected. No one.

But it is really important that you do use your head and not your heart if they contact you. Recently I have reported a lot of these fake accounts to Instagram. How? Well block their message and report as Spam. Instagram will confirm back to you that this has been done because these fake accounts are in violation of their rules and guidelines. Account holders will not see anything, this is completely anonymous. So don’t worry.

It makes me really sad that people can be taken in by all this. Watch for the tell tale signs: often there are little mistakes in the English, they always are divorced, widowed, lost their partner to a deathly disease, they are alone, looking for a new relationship with commitments. Also there is always a child involved, who needs help, money for medical attention. Fantasy stories and believe me they sound so pitiful that people actually begin to believe them. They fall in love with you fast, send you lovely romantic messages and it makes you feel good. Really !!

I have noticed through a lot of the emails and comments I have received that everyone is ‘waking up’. People are being honest, like me, saying that they were completely taken in by these scammers. The scammers themselves are usually located in places like West Africa, The Middle East, India and these are teams of well trained ruthless groups, behind laptops. Be careful, they have worldwide connections.

They want only one thing and that is money or some form of card like iTunes. Don’t fall for it, so people give too many details, get stuck in their web of lies. Stop! Think! Do not do anything other than delete and report them. Do not send anything to anyone you do not know personally.

If you suggest a online video chat they will come up with an excuse, the favorite being that they are in a dangerous war zone and cannot be online. They will ask you to go to Google Hangouts. Don’t! Ask for your email. Do not give it!

I am very grateful to both Dr Fernando GM and Thomas L Madsen for also giving attention to this subject. Both of them are also on Instagram but their accounts have been marked with a ‘small blue tick’ (by Instagram) that they are the genuine person. Anything else than that, just delete. Do not be taken in.

Combining together contributes to change and stopping these people. Believe me they will come up with something else. But in the meantime, be warned. Take care. Stay Safe.

Never fall for their stories, however genuine they may sound. Keep your own passwords and accounts safe. Change passwords regularly. Hackers and scammers are very clever.

A very special thank you for all of you who wrote emails and comments to me. You are brave and by being honest and telling people, sharing your own story in your own social circles. The more attention this gets, the more we can stop it. Together. As a worldwide team, irrespective of our languages.

USE YOUR HEAD AND NOT YOUR HEART !!!

SPECTACULAR MORNINGS

This was my view when I woke up yesterday morning and thought I would share it with you. The Netherlands is enjoying exceptionally lovely weather at the moment, a true Indian summer, temperatures up in the twenties (oC) everyday. Such amazing colours and I thought: Start your day in a spectacular way. It does not get much better than this!

Thank you for the enormous response to my blogs and well-being. Glad to say getting better each and every day. Making progress every day, but at the same time, taking time to allow myself to heal.

Hope to continue work next week on my latest book in progress: The Art of Confessions.

One small note, there has been a huge response to the blog which is an excerpt from my book: The Blue House. This is a book written and published by me. It is available through www.bol.com

People asked ‘is there more?’ Answer: yes, another 38 chapters.

Happy Weekend everyone!