A fortune-teller once told me that I knew my husband in a past life. That we were married and had died in a ditch of hunger together. When I told him this news, it didn’t phase him, he didn’t even look up from his newspaper. ‘Are you not alarmed that we died of hunger?” I asked with a kinda side glance. ‘No I’m just glad we were together,” he said and I loved him just a little more.
From todays 1,000 words. It's a summer challenge to get the words out of your head and onto the page. Join me. It's great fun. So I wasn't sure what to write. Short stories, Memoir 2, creative non-fiction or go all out fiction. But as soon as I sat down to write, I remembered the time I got Covid and so far the story sounds like this....
A 52 year old woman finds herself confined to the bed after a Covid diagnoses and unable to fly from Dublin to the States. Her 16-year-old daughter instructs her NOT to leave her room! Under ANY circumstances. The daughter dutifully leaves a cup of tea and toast at the door before she sprays the air outside the bedroom with a heavy disinfectant then slams the door for school each morning.
Over the ten day period, her son and husband report on their road trip to Maine, the purpose of the trip (that she was missing,) was to find land by the ocean and start a new chapter of their lives. Between texts from them and staring at the wall, the woman has time to think about what that chapter will look like? Imaging writing retreats with prosecco endings, travel to exotic Greek islands, a new horse, a holiday bolthole and a family home in Ireland, she spins a beautiful dream and vision for her family's future.
By the end of the 10 day confinement, her husband calls to give her the news. They've put in an offer on a piece of land and crowns her "Queen of the quarry," a 30 acre pit on a small island on the mid-coast of Maine, and where, (she finds out later,) every penny they have will go towards diggers and American made nails for 'rustic cabins' in the forest. As she stood up to leave her room, she felt a slight wobble and was sure she heard the sound of breaking prosecco glasses and exotic travel dreams.
Sound familiar? I'm enjoying every moment of this process and am going to up the drama and get creative with the characters. Join me, let's see what we have by the end of summer!
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