Since she'd had lots of time in advance to prepare for her reunion, she did what many of her friends would do and spent many hours in the gym. Katie's aspirations weren't anything more exciting than looking good in the expensive swimsuit and pretty dresses that she had purchased for the trip. Just because Jim had moved on with some hot young grad student didn't mean that she couldn't have fun on her trip.
If her soon to be ex would have gone she wouldn't have worked out before hand because it wouldn't have mattered how good she looked. He would have been cavorting with someone that wasn't her before the end of the first day. That he actually thought she hadn't known was what really hurt the worst in that entire effed up situation.
As it was, he was shacked up with someone who until a year ago hadn't been able to buy her own booze. But she was surprisingly over it. He'd moved on and she couldn't be happier about that fact. It was a good thing that she'd be basically single for the last few months. She would technically be completely single after the reunion, but she could flirt. She hadn't been in this good of shape for years.
Closer to the reunion Katie started posting to the Facebook page about being happy to see everyone and more than a few people she had been friends with in school started replying with their own hopes for the reunion. Before long, she had plans to spend time with several people in her old group of friends. The time went surprisingly fast since she spent so much time working out and tracking her food. She suddenly realized why her healthy friends never seemed to have any free time.
The week of the trip she made sure that her dog Juno was set up with her brother and his girlfriend. He also promised to pick up her mail. Once she was packed all she had left to do was wait. She worked out one more time before going home and watching what she hoped would be a relaxing show. Now that the fateful days were here, she wasn't sure what to do. There was no dog to cuddle, no great shows to watch - she was all caught up for now. But she just couldn't sleep.
By the time the shuttle came to pick her up she'd only had about two hours of nightmare fueled sleep.
Monday, August 10, 2015
Friday, August 7, 2015
Doomed Reunion Pt 1
"“I wasn’t planning on this. Falling in love with you was the last thing I
wanted. Because I know our time would have to come to end. Yet, here I
am, begging you not to turn the page.” Who is the speaker and who is the
speaker talking to? Finish the scene." (Writers Digest Prompt from June 25th)
“I wasn’t planning on this. Falling in love with you was the last thing I wanted. Because I know our time would have to come to end. Yet, here I am, begging you not to turn the page.” His voice had broken on the last few words, but she just didn't know if she could trust anything he'd said.
"Why are you here, anyway? You are MARRIED. Hell, until next week, I'm married too!" She couldn't seem to look up at his face. It had been many many years since she'd felt the way she felt tonight, but it didn't lessen the voracity of the facts. They were married to other people and they had missed their chance a long, long time ago.
The high school hadn't thought it would be a good idea to have their 10 year reunion at the school, and it was one of the few things about this week that Katie thought was a great idea. Vegas? Seriously? They'd gone to a High School in Littleton, Colorado for crying out loud.
None of them were wildly successful, but it hadn't mattered. Once the meeting room was booked, and the event invitations were emailed to whatever alumni that our still obnoxiously perky Class President Meaghan could find, the RSVPs had begun pouring in.
The event page on Facebook had filled up so fast that Katie had wondered if Meaghan had posted the promise of naked pictures if people said they were going to go. After her own RSVP with deposit all she'd received were a very perky thanks, information for discount hotel accommodations and a request for her physical address to send a badge that would let her in the event. Knowing Meaghan as long as she had, it was a tossup about what she could really expect. Would it be a basic catering setup with tables in the middle where everyone could seat themselves? Would it be a small carnival with Skee-Ball, Ring Toss and a Mind-Eraser ride? Or, would it be set up like a school dance that served h'ordevours? If she had to bet, knowing Meaghan's love of Brat-pack movies, it would be a school dance atmosphere. But in Las Vegas...
Katie had never been to Las Vegas. The closest that she'd ever gotten was Black Hawk in Colorado. It's not a fair comparison. Black Hawk was a small mountain town until gambling was voted for and then proceeded to completely overrun its historic charm and closest neighbor, Central City. Now they were both small Reno-esque mountain gambling centers with charms of their own, but no longer were they anything resembling the quaint and charming towns they were.
“I wasn’t planning on this. Falling in love with you was the last thing I wanted. Because I know our time would have to come to end. Yet, here I am, begging you not to turn the page.” His voice had broken on the last few words, but she just didn't know if she could trust anything he'd said.
"Why are you here, anyway? You are MARRIED. Hell, until next week, I'm married too!" She couldn't seem to look up at his face. It had been many many years since she'd felt the way she felt tonight, but it didn't lessen the voracity of the facts. They were married to other people and they had missed their chance a long, long time ago.
The high school hadn't thought it would be a good idea to have their 10 year reunion at the school, and it was one of the few things about this week that Katie thought was a great idea. Vegas? Seriously? They'd gone to a High School in Littleton, Colorado for crying out loud.
None of them were wildly successful, but it hadn't mattered. Once the meeting room was booked, and the event invitations were emailed to whatever alumni that our still obnoxiously perky Class President Meaghan could find, the RSVPs had begun pouring in.
The event page on Facebook had filled up so fast that Katie had wondered if Meaghan had posted the promise of naked pictures if people said they were going to go. After her own RSVP with deposit all she'd received were a very perky thanks, information for discount hotel accommodations and a request for her physical address to send a badge that would let her in the event. Knowing Meaghan as long as she had, it was a tossup about what she could really expect. Would it be a basic catering setup with tables in the middle where everyone could seat themselves? Would it be a small carnival with Skee-Ball, Ring Toss and a Mind-Eraser ride? Or, would it be set up like a school dance that served h'ordevours? If she had to bet, knowing Meaghan's love of Brat-pack movies, it would be a school dance atmosphere. But in Las Vegas...
Katie had never been to Las Vegas. The closest that she'd ever gotten was Black Hawk in Colorado. It's not a fair comparison. Black Hawk was a small mountain town until gambling was voted for and then proceeded to completely overrun its historic charm and closest neighbor, Central City. Now they were both small Reno-esque mountain gambling centers with charms of their own, but no longer were they anything resembling the quaint and charming towns they were.
Monday, August 3, 2015
Waiting game
If there is one thing that I am absolutely horrible at, its waiting. It is for that reason, I suppose, I have trouble making pasta, doing long math problems, filling out paperwork and anticipating news of my future.
When you are your own boss, there are things to do, people to contact, paperwork to fill out (my least favorite part of the job) and always something to update online. Even if you're just getting people and supplies together to do something fun, there are more than ample things to prepare. Widgets to cut out, paint to mix, etc.
Writing is a good refuge for the timelessness of waiting. It distracts me from the now and lets me concentrate on the then. Even if it does happen to be a fictional when, there are still elements to look over and characters under my care. I have to feed them, clothe them and clean up their messes even if they are all messes of my own creation. At the risk of sounding like a megalomaniac, I am their god and creator, even if they'll never be aware of me unless I tip my hand in written form.
That did sound a little crazy, didn't it? This is what waiting does to me. I thrive best as a part of a group, and waiting alone at my house drains my energy and makes me stir crazy. Biking around during the day helps these "itchy feet" of mine, but its only a stop-gap until I'm working full time again. Granted, up until last Tuesday I had 3 jobs, and now I only have 1... many people don't have any. Know that I am grateful for the job I have, and that I enjoy teaching as much as I do, but I would like to have something more lucrative to fill my time.
As a direct result of my new-found free time, my writing is coming along nicely. I am now 6 chapters into my 10 chapter goal. The problem seems to be that the more I write about these people, the more comes to life about them. Its starting to look like 15 chapters is a better goal. Much like real life, there are no easy answers about the situations in which they all find themselves. I don't want to cheapen their fictional lives by wrapping up their character arc in some trite 30-minute sitcom style. Resolution with a satisfying end. Full but not bloated and finished but not deathly finite.
Guess I have more to do that I thought!
When you are your own boss, there are things to do, people to contact, paperwork to fill out (my least favorite part of the job) and always something to update online. Even if you're just getting people and supplies together to do something fun, there are more than ample things to prepare. Widgets to cut out, paint to mix, etc.
Writing is a good refuge for the timelessness of waiting. It distracts me from the now and lets me concentrate on the then. Even if it does happen to be a fictional when, there are still elements to look over and characters under my care. I have to feed them, clothe them and clean up their messes even if they are all messes of my own creation. At the risk of sounding like a megalomaniac, I am their god and creator, even if they'll never be aware of me unless I tip my hand in written form.
That did sound a little crazy, didn't it? This is what waiting does to me. I thrive best as a part of a group, and waiting alone at my house drains my energy and makes me stir crazy. Biking around during the day helps these "itchy feet" of mine, but its only a stop-gap until I'm working full time again. Granted, up until last Tuesday I had 3 jobs, and now I only have 1... many people don't have any. Know that I am grateful for the job I have, and that I enjoy teaching as much as I do, but I would like to have something more lucrative to fill my time.
As a direct result of my new-found free time, my writing is coming along nicely. I am now 6 chapters into my 10 chapter goal. The problem seems to be that the more I write about these people, the more comes to life about them. Its starting to look like 15 chapters is a better goal. Much like real life, there are no easy answers about the situations in which they all find themselves. I don't want to cheapen their fictional lives by wrapping up their character arc in some trite 30-minute sitcom style. Resolution with a satisfying end. Full but not bloated and finished but not deathly finite.
Guess I have more to do that I thought!
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