TINY TUESDAY (almost Wednesday) (m)

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Registered: 03-25-2003
TINY TUESDAY (almost Wednesday) (m)
19
Tue, 12-25-2001 - 8:51pm

TINY TUESDAY (almost Wednesday) (m)


This week, write a scene or short story (less than 500 words)that centers around a New Year's Resolution.

Happy Writing,

Mac

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Wed, 12-26-2001 - 9:43pm

My TT: This Year, I Will.... (m)


Wiping her hands—both sticky from tree sap and dried blood—Virginia took off her apron and threw it into the bonfire. The children, she hoped, were asleep by now. She reached into her dress pocket, pulled out a cigarette and quickly lit it. She watched the flames blaze; it's flickering mesmerized her. Her mind drifted back to earlier in the evening.

Hours before, her three kids had been sitting obediently around the kitchen table waiting for Virginia to serve macaroni and cheese from the pot. Although hungry, none complained about the scarce amount of food. They were happy to be able to eat in peace.

But not for long.

Gary burst through the back door, catching Virginia off guard. She had no idea that he'd known where she had fled. He glanced at the kitchen table, and then jerked his head towards the stove.

The sweat gathered on Virginia's upper lip but her eyes were dry. Tears would have normally streamed down her face but she was stronger than she'd ever been, though his intimidating coal-black eyes made her question her strength. For the kids kept rambling through her mind.

"Run kids. Run."

She heard Billy's weak voice yell Mama before Jimmy told him to go. Her eyes never left her husband's face and grew larger as he came towards her.

"Thought you'd git away from me, didn't ya?" he said, the smell of whiskey flowed from his pores.

"I tried."

"Ginny, you ain't never gonna git away from me." With his left hand, Gary cleared the dishes from the kitchen table. Virginia stared on as her plates tumbled to the floor, pieces of broken porcelain mixed with cheese-covered pasta. "Now, git over and gimme what you been keepin’ from me."

Virginia froze. The tick grew louder as she gaped at the timer on the stove. Behind her, she heard the clank of Gary's buckle as he undid his pants. She clinched a little and felt the scar above her eyebrow. Remembering the time Gary had beat her—with the children purposefully lined against the living room wall to observe—she knew what she had to do.

Within a flash, Virginia ripped over the stove and removed the cast iron pan of piping hot cornbread and flung it towards Gary with the power of a backhand serve on a tennis court. He cried out in agony as she quickly moved across the room for the baseball bat she kept behind the door.

Only after she'd gone out on the porch for a cigarette, feeling the still crisp air against her face, had she thought of how she’d dispose of her deceased husband's body.

Virginia dug a shallow grave and pushed the blanket-wrapped corpse into the hole. With rapid speed, she shuffled the dirt over it, and then went around collecting branches or whatever she could use as kindling. Virginia tossed an armful of seasoned firewood on top and lit the towel-covered torch. As the fire grew, she continued to add more wood. After the bonfire was several feet high, she went into the house to get the Christmas tree that her and the kids had stripped of ornaments at the start of the evening.

She looked on as the tree slowly began to burn- the sap from the tree slowed the speed of the fire's blaze—at a pace Virginia had hoped for. She wanted nothing to remain but ashes when the fire died.

"For the kids," Virginia said aloud to no one. "I vowed to keep this safe this year…the next year…now I don’t have to worry no more. We’re all safe.”

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Thu, 12-27-2001 - 12:38am

Here's my TTE, untitled. (Any suggestions?)


A brand new year. Elvera Manchester stared out the window of the small cabin she'd retreated to for the holidays. A clean slate. Trite, but true. Now, what was she going to do with it? She squinted against the brightness as the sun burst out from behind a gray bottomed pile of clouds.

She watched a pair of coyotes, off near the treeline, a few yards from the comfort of the cabin. The male came up, dropped a rabbit at the female's feet and nuzzled her. Elvira blushed at the feelings niggling at her mind.

She glanced around the cabin's living area, full of memories -- photos of Charlie, mementos of the fishing trips, floats, and hunts they'd shared through forty years of marriage. A stab of guilt clutched at her as she fought the idea, dancing like the waters of Tantalus just beyond reach. Funny, she hadn't realized it before. The room had become a small shrine to those forty years in the three years since his death. Turning back to the window, she noted that the porch leaned a little to the left. When had that happened, she wondered.

"Well," she said to the walls, "That just won't do."

She grabbed a dustcloth out of the pantry and lit into the living room, still thinking about the coming year. "Charlie, I'll always love you, but I'm lonesome," she said to her favorite photo -- the one of him holding his prize winning large mouth bass. She ran the tip of her finger across his sassy grin. "Can you understand that?"

She started on the bedroom next, stopping at her reflection in the dresser mirror. She was still slim. Attractive in spite of the encroaching gray hairs. She thought of the sagging porch, and the tantalizing idea came into sudden focus. Walking back to the living area, she picked up the phone and dialed the hardware store in town.

"Mabel? This is Elvera. Does Mr. Daily still do repair work? Yes, have him give me a call at the cabin."

"Thanks. All right, you take care too. Bye now."

She picked up the photo again, feeling a guilty freedom. "I'm going to sell the cabin, Charlie." She looked into his blue eyes. "Tell me you understand?" She set the photo back on the mantle, chewing her lower lip as tears filled her eyes.

At last she looked up, blinking the tears away. His battered red fishing cap hung by the door. It had been a promotional giveaway, but the marina's label had long ago fallen off. She picked up the cap and stared at the brighter patch where the label had been. Its absence suddenly promised a world of new possibilities. The cap now read, "Follow your dreams at ..."

She smiled and slipped it on. Hugging herself with relief, she whispered, "Thanks, Charlie. I will."

THE END

cl-ozarker

"We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master." - Ernest Heminway

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Thu, 12-27-2001 - 12:45am

Wow mac. What a way to keep a new year's resolution.(m)


Personally, I think he got what he deserved. Nice work.

Linda

cl-ozarker

"We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master." - Ernest Heminway

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Thu, 12-27-2001 - 9:53am

Thanks Linda (m)


I gave those male characters a break (didn't kill off any during the holidays-LOL) but I'm back at it. Two this week as a matter of fact. Thanks for your comments.

Mac

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Thu, 12-27-2001 - 3:06pm

Sweet story, Linda (m)


For a moment there I thought Elvera was thinking of asking Mr. Daily over for something else. But I guess my mind was just in the gutter.

I loved the part about the cap and was thinking maybe Charlie's Red Cap as a title?

Mac

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Thu, 12-27-2001 - 3:40pm

Heheheh, we're down there together mac.(m)


I was going to do just that, but couldn't figure out how to do it in 500 words-LOL. So I thought I'd just hint at her future. Thanks for the title idea too.

Linda

cl-ozarker

"We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master." - Ernest Heminway

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-24-2003
Thu, 12-27-2001 - 6:46pm

Good job Linda...(m)


I love this story, and especially the promise of what the future holds...I, too, thought she was going to make it with Mr. Daily. Hummmm...even more promises.

kat

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-24-2003
Thu, 12-27-2001 - 6:50pm

Jeez...now that's a resolution worth hanging onto! Good story! kat


iVillage Member
Registered: 09-24-2003
Thu, 12-27-2001 - 8:19pm

Not just another promise...(TT) a little late, but what the hey!


Well, so much for New Year’s resolutions! It took me all year to realize that my decision to stick this one out, to believe in love was foolhardy. I will tell Jake tonight that it's over, that we should do ourselves the favor of moving on because we simply are not meant to be together.

It was Carmen’s crazy idea that Jake would ask me on New Year’s Eve. Even if it was the first year anniversary of the night we met, or that half the world gets engaged on New Year’s Eve, that didn’t guarantee it would happen to me. That’s what started this whole ridiculous expectation. I have to face facts, Jake and I have a great time together, we like the same foods, we are clean freaks, compulsive shoppers, but we constantly fight, he’s analytical and I’m undefined, willing to try anything as long as it isn’t completely dictated by logic. And the kicker is, he wants kids and I don’t think I do. No, Jake will never marry me. It will be best for us to go our separate ways now before it gets any harder to break off this relationship.

I decide to wear the black velvet backless dress I wore the night I met Jake. We are going out to Sardis for dinner, and I want to look gorgeous, memorable. I add a little more blush to my cheekbones, dap on the finishing touch of lip gloss, and step back from the mirror to take in the whole image. With my black hair stacked on top of my head, and a few strands curling softly around my face, tears begin to well in my eyes. After tonight, Jake will never again gently sweep loose hairs away from my eyes while he intently shares his work projects with me, or leaning over my naked body telling me how he loves to make love to me.

Buzzz! The doorbell announces Jake's arrival. “OK girl, you can do this. It’s for the best.”

As I open the door, a bouquet of red roses fills the hallway, and then Jake lowers the roses. His eyes light up as he recognizes the dress I’m wearing, and then a sly smile forms as his eyes move down my body. “How perfect Lisa! If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’d been reading my mind. You look as beautiful as the first time I saw you!”

“Oh Jake, are these for me? They’re so beautiful!”

I take the flowers from Jake as he steps into my apartment closing the door behind him. He follows me into the kitchen where I open the cabinet to find a vase to put them in, but Jake takes my hand and turns me to face him.

“No, they’re for your cleaning lady!” he says with a devilish grin. “You silly goose, they’re for the woman I love. Lisa, I was going to do this over dinner, but I simply cannot wait a minute longer. In fact, I wanted to ask you last night, but it wasn’t New Year’s Eve that I knew I loved you, but New Year’s day after we'd stayed up all night walking in the park, drinking champagne out of the bottle, and talking the whole time about our lives, and dreams, and then we watched the sun rise from your building rooftop. It was then I knew I loved you Lisa. Will you marry me?”

He loves me, he really loves me! What a fool I am. I had convinced myself that we weren’t meant for each other, but now listening to him, and his sweet romance, I know I love him too.

“Lisa?”

“Yes Jake, I will marry you, and thank God for New Year’s resolutions.”

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-20-2003
Thu, 12-27-2001 - 10:01pm

Cute story kay.(nt)


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