by Mayumi-H | Mar 21, 2012 | Short Stories, Songbirds
This week’s 100-Word Challenge for Grown-Ups prompt: “…the red box…”
Just like the government, we’re dealing with fiscal budgets at work, right now. So, I veered off from the obvious choice of “the red box” for this week’s prompt, and instead went just a bit to the left:
Eyes twinkling with charmed interest, she pushes him in front of the red box and raises her camera into his face.
“Brilliant,” he mutters at the lens. “Now, we’re tourists.”
She shushes him and clicks. He fidgets, feeling ridiculous as the subject of a photographic cliche.
“Satisfied?” he asks.
She lowers the camera with an elfin smile. “Not just yet.”
She pushes him again, trapping him into the antiquated phone box. Then, she presses up and kisses him: soft, warm, sweet.
He’s dizzy when they part.
“Satisfied?” she echoes, smiling wide again.
Closing the red box around them, he grins. “Not just yet.”
image courtesy Favim.com
Another little Songbirds Series drabble, because the moment I thought about those red phone boxes, I thought that Sally might take a moment to bother with a snapshot…and Larry would probably scoff about it. But even two people who see the world from such different perspectives can find a way to mutually enjoy something so quaint.
by Mayumi-H | Mar 17, 2012 | Excerpts, Fearless, Process
A bit of odd background on this scene. Husband and I were watching the Danish crime drama Forbrydelsen late last year, and we had (almost word-for-word) this same conversation.
It’s always fun to incorporate actual dialogue from my own life or the lives around me, but I also thought this would be an interesting little commentary on the developments that have occurred between the characters:
Neville joined them upstairs in the flat for curry and the Danish crime drama that had captured their attentions over the last several weeks, during which Amber curled herself close under Ross’s arm, sucking thoughtfully on the last of the pulpy mangoes they had for dessert, while the guys sat quietly engrossed in the subtitles.
“Those two are totally going to do it,” Ross interjected during the closing scene of the episode.
Beside him, Amber broke into light giggling. “I know!” she said, tumbling gleefully against his chest; without the on-screen drama and tension, she turned lively and lighthearted once more. “I was going to say the same thing.”
Sitting on the floor in front of the sofa, Neville craned his head around to look at Ross. “Why does everything with you have to be about sex?”
“It doesn’t,” Ross told him. He gestured toward the screen. “But they’ve got chemistry! I mean, look at them. You can see that she wants him.”
Amber poked him in the chest. “He wants her, you mean! He can’t trust his old lover anymore, not after she planted that evidence. But he can trust this woman. And you can tell he really wants to trust her; you know, he wants someone he can believe in, someone he knows is honest and worthwhile.” She bobbed her head knowingly. “That is prime love material, right there.”
Yes, it is, Amber, love. Yes, it is.
Have you ever used any real-life conversations in your own stories?
by Mayumi-H | Mar 14, 2012 | Short Stories
For this week’s 100 Word Challenge for Grown-Ups, the prompt was “…but I turned it off….”
At first, I thought (with admittedly naughty amusement), “There’s no way I can make this one PG!” But, delving a little bit deeper, I came up with this somewhat lonely piece:
“Let it play.”
That’s what she’d say, no matter what trite, insipid song would come on. And he’d let it do, for her smile, for her sway. But he turns it off, now. Because, with her gone, he can’t bear the sound.
He curses his foolish jealousy. It was only Fred, only tea…!
In oppressive stillness, he limps to bed.
A song startles him awake. Heart pattering, he stumbles out. But I turned it off, he thinks. I know-! Then, he sees her: smiling, swaying.
Their eyes meet.
She moves to silence the radio.
He smiles. “Let it play.”
I have plenty of other writing to do, but I’ve found that taking a time-out to write these little vignettes helps me with the larger story: I’m really paying more attention to the words I’m choosing when I write, and I think that’s showing through in the novel, too.
by Mayumi-H | Mar 10, 2012 | Excerpts, Fearless, Process
…[I]f the whole truth were to be known, Neville wasn’t the only one who found the ups and downs of this romance mystifying; Ross himself had trouble figuring out just what it was he was supposed to say and do for Amber, and when. Women before her hadn’t seemed at all to care about his thoughts or his feelings, just that he performed to a degree of satisfaction.
But Amber constantly pressed him for his opinion on things, even of the most mundane nature:
“Which do you prefer?” she asked as they were browsing the produce at Crispin’s later in the week. “Cherry tomatoes, or plum?”
“I don’t care,” he muttered, picking up one yam and trading it for another of heftier quality that he dropped into their basket.
She made a sniffing sound. “What do you mean, you don’t care?”
“I mean, I don’t care,” he replied. “A tomato’s a tomato.”
“They’re not all the same,” Amber insisted. “If they were, they’d all be called just ‘tomato.’ Not ‘Roma’ or ‘Campari’ or whatnot.”
He turned to her with an exasperated groan. “What does it matter? They taste essentially the same-”
“Ah-ha!” she snapped, pointing her finger at him, nearly into his nose. “So you admit that they aren’t all exactly alike!”
Ross pushed her hand away from his face. “It doesn’t make a difference.”
“It makes quite a bit of difference!” she told him with a nod. “If you prefer one over the other, then we should get that one, and not settle for something you don’t like as much, just because you don’t want to commit to a decision about it.”
He groaned again, and then – because there were other people about – he leaned toward her, rumbling, “I don’t care! And what’s more, I don’t understand why this rubbish is so bloody important to you!”
She paused, then straightened on her heels, feet together, and blinked. “I just want to please you,” she said from between half-closed lips, her soft-spoken response quieting and humbling him instantly.
So he stood back again and felt his shoulders slope, as he let go a low breath. The honest, trenchant look on her face was so precious that he relaxed, and he was struck by a now-familiar surge of affection for her. He smiled then, and told her, softly:
“Cherry.”
She smiled back at him. Then she reached out and with one deft, quick stroke of her hand she stole one of the tiny tomatoes from their wooden case, and rose on her toes to pop it quickly into his mouth. And the sudden burst of sweet juice between his lips then was as nothing compared to the sweetness of her kisses later that same day, when they were back at the loft, clutching tightly to each other as she bounced up and down in his lap.
This lead-in has some light-hearted happiness to it, but there’s also a touch of conflict, if you look. Lovers experience a whole gamut of emotions when they’re courting, not all of it dealing with the sexual side of things.
In some stories, characters fall in love and that’s their story. I almost never end with just that, though. Because real love is about so much more than physical attraction or mutual affection. It’s also about the growth of trust and honesty, the overcoming of fear and uncertainty. Sometimes, love occurs from huge leaps of faith. And sometimes, love happens in the little moments. I like examining both, because I think that both are very real.
As a love story, Fearless doesn’t have any gargantuan revelations or crescendos of thrills. It’s more about people learning about themselves and about each other. It’s quiet and gentle, but I’m also hoping that it is honest, too. Because that’s what I like in the stories that I read.
by Mayumi-H | Mar 3, 2012 | Fearless, Short Stories
Another entry for the 100-Word Challenge for Grown-Ups over at Julia’s Place (because, even though I have so much novel writing to do, these are just too much fun to pass up). Week 32’s theme was “take a leap of faith.”
Here’s my go:
He’s worn this armour a long time: hammered from the humiliating rejection of one woman seeking a diversion, buckled by the manipulation of another endeavouring to impress.
He doubts it will ever come off.
But then, one day, a pretty, gentle girl smiles at him, and the metal strains. She takes his hand, and the straps creak. And when she finally pulls him close, pressing her lips to his with honest, heartfelt love, all he knows is that he wants this, he wants her: warm, soft, cuddled to his naked chest.
He takes her in his arms.
The armour’s forgotten.
As I’ve done before, I skirt the edge of the theme a bit, here. But if you can follow my logic, hopefully you can see where the leap of faith comes in.
Readers of Fearless may recognise familiar details from the main story in these little challenge vignettes. I’m not going to make any excuses, there. These characters are so embedded in my life right now, I don’t think I could tear my brain away from them if I tried. (Though I’m not really trying, I admit. I just want to keep writing and writing and writing them!)
If you enjoyed this challenge, I suggest you take a look at some of the others, over at Julia’s Place! They’re only 100 words, so, why not?
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