Friday, November 15, 2013

3340 Words! It is Finished!!

My family has been through hell because of me.  How and why they all still love me is beyond my understanding, really.   They tell me I have always been a steady presence when they have had problems, so there is no question that I have earned the returned favor.  I wish I remembered when I was a steady presence instead of a constant nuisance.  

Woot! Thanks for reading!!

Thursday, November 14, 2013

1409 Words

The three of them arrive with a cartoon like clamor.  Annie is stumbly and confused, Carly loud and frightened, Andy in charge, but clearly not in control.  

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

150 Words

"I can tell you he was alive when we put him in the ambulance.”  

(Interesting day...)

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

1586 Words

“This family has done enough hospital time.”  

Bruce and Casey are huddled together in the corner of a dismal, gray-walled, surgery waiting room.  They have not been able to find Rachel.  They only know they are expected to wait in this 4th floor holding area so the doctor will know where to find them when there is news.  

(If you're wondering about progress, dear friends - I am just shy of 60K words - 200-250 pages - and the story is winding down. I am 11 days from absolute deadline.)

Monday, November 11, 2013

2102 Words

It has been eight days of unmitigated chaos and Bruce is ready for one blessedly quiet night with a Cuban cigar and a 15 year old bottle of whiskey.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

746 Words

And so, against a wall of protests from the entire family, Annie had spent the last two nights with Bruce.  
(Sunday malaise...guests coming for dinner.)  

Saturday, November 9, 2013

1518 Words

Jane sighs and wishes she knew more.  When she saw Annie Friday, they had happily reviewed her green grocery list, compared it carefully to her tan meal plan, and talked about setting a table, putting on make-up, and smiling through small moments of confusion.    
(Working on Saturday morning is not fun.  But I'm on the downhill side of this mountain.  Hope to finish the book ahead of schedule!)

Friday, November 8, 2013

1545 Words

The word is there somewhere.  I say the word languish, even though I know it’s not the right one.  I hope if I mumble it, the word will resemble the one I need to say.  Let’s call that a compensatory strategy.  Andy gets it and says back to me, “Lettuce?”  

Thursday, November 7, 2013

1542 Words

Mornings with Andy are the most difficult.  I wake up every day wondering where I am and who the man is next to me in the bed.   Then I remember to look for notes and I see the one in the frame by my bed.  You are Married to Andy and He Loves You.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

2225 Words

Andy can’t contain a loud gush of laughter, which is the perfect antidote for the circle of concern that has grown concentrically from Annie and Bruce all the way to the rangy looking family who just piled out of a 1970 VW van to watch this pitiful show.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

1935 Words

Jake and Carly spent another two hours unpacking and repacking boxes before they found the faded red and yellow Ohio Star quilt that, according to their mother, had been Aunt Min’s death bed project.  “I wonder if mom remembers how ugly this thing is,” Carly said, shaking spiders and dust from the folds. 

Monday, November 4, 2013

1582 Words

Eventually, Annie chipped through the edge of awkwardness that squeezed them all and said, “I’d rather be telling you I’m dying of cancer than telling you your dad and I are splitting up – but we are.  We’re getting a divorce.”  It was a typically convoluted stacking of emotional phrases from their mother’s mouth, and both Jake and Carly sat stunned and silent while they processed “dying of cancer” in the same sentence with “divorce”.  

Sunday, November 3, 2013

1513 Words

 I realize I am over-dramatically flinging my hands around my head as I say “all of this” so I very intentionally return my flailing appendages to my side and take a deep breath.  

Saturday, November 2, 2013

1607 Words

They stopped for tea and scones at a beach front cafĂ© after leaving the fateful turn in the road that day.  Annie loved afternoon tea.  It made her feel refined and relaxed in the days before the accident, and she seemed to fall into the familiarity of the ritual that day.  

Friday, November 1, 2013

1547 Words

The ill-defined gloominess of the weather matches Bruce’s mood perfectly. Like Bruce, it seems Mother Nature is brooding in a negative leaning way.  The skies are overcast, but the clouds aren’t threatening rain – just malaise with a chance of angst.   

(Daily goal update: I now have 3 weeks, aka 21 days, to finish this novel.  To that end, I absolutely must keep a commitment to write at least 1500 words EVERY day for 21 days...unless the story ends sooner. :-)  I have 41,667 words now, which = 138 pages.  No days off until finished. Woot!)