Tag: NaNoWriMo

The Things We Do For Love – The final editor’s draft – Day 3

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Michelle, to Henry, was the proverbial black widow, having arrived with every stitch of clothing black or near enough.

They settle into an uneasy co-existence, by the fire, waiting out the rain and weather, not avoiding meals because it would require explanation, but stumbling over the conversation, mainly because of Henry’s shyness and reserve.

The arrangements come to a head when she goes out and comes back soaked.  She stands by the fire to get warm; Mrs Mac brings a towel for her to dry her face and hair, and here Henry discovers her injuries make it difficult.

He helps but makes a mess of it through inexperience and fear of, yes, making a mess of a moment, which, word-wise, he does.

At this point, we discover a lot more about who she is and why she is there, and why she can never have a relationship, friendship or anything with that enigmatic, shy, boy.

Then the weather breaks.

Alone, Henry goes out to explore the coast, finds a way down to the beach, goes for a walk to be alone with his thoughts, and remembers where he had seen her before.

In magazines, ads.  Not only a model but a lot more.  A woman he realizes he is way out of his depth when with her.

She ventures to the beach, and they talk, he discovers small talk is not something that comes easy and is left in despair at his ineptitude.

I know this feeling from experience, and it makes this story easy.

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The Things We Do For Love – The final editor’s draft – Day 3

…

Michelle, to Henry, was the proverbial black widow, having arrived with every stitch of clothing black or near enough.

They settle into an uneasy co-existence, by the fire, waiting out the rain and weather, not avoiding meals because it would require explanation, but stumbling over the conversation, mainly because of Henry’s shyness and reserve.

The arrangements come to a head when she goes out and comes back soaked.  She stands by the fire to get warm; Mrs Mac brings a towel for her to dry her face and hair, and here Henry discovers her injuries make it difficult.

He helps but makes a mess of it through inexperience and fear of, yes, making a mess of a moment, which, word-wise, he does.

At this point, we discover a lot more about who she is and why she is there, and why she can never have a relationship, friendship or anything with that enigmatic, shy, boy.

Then the weather breaks.

Alone, Henry goes out to explore the coast, finds a way down to the beach, goes for a walk to be alone with his thoughts, and remembers where he had seen her before.

In magazines, ads.  Not only a model but a lot more.  A woman he realizes he is way out of his depth when with her.

She ventures to the beach, and they talk, he discovers small talk is not something that comes easy and is left in despair at his ineptitude.

I know this feeling from experience, and it makes this story easy.

…

The Things We Do For Love – The final editor’s draft – Day 2

…

Some people are not who they appear to be.

Henry, for instance, had suffered the tragic loss of what he believed to be his one true love.  That, in essence, had led him to that life at sea, away from everything and everyone, because all it did was remind him of what he had lost.

And, yes, he was not going to fall in love again, it was far too painful.

Trying to get over the overwhelming grief, still raw a year later, he hears the arrival of another guest, and curious discovers it is a woman about his age, one who is quite at odds with what he would expect as a guest, at this hotel, at this time of year.

It raises that inevitable question, why would someone like her be there?

This leads to an awkward dinner where, with only two guests in the hotel, would it not be better if they sat together?  Neither thought so, but it seems impolite not to.

From there, of course, the conversation could only get worse, with each emphasising, in their thoughts, just how much they didn’t want to be there.

It is here we discover how these two are going to get along, or not, as the days proceed, not having realised that meeting others was a possibility, but meeting someone else who might be a match, never.  Both know they’re at that hotel to stay away from everyone else, but, in the coming days, that wasn’t going to be possible.

Plans must be made.

…

The Things We Do For Love – The final editor’s draft – Day 2

…

Some people are not who they appear to be.

Henry, for instance, had suffered the tragic loss of what he believed to be his one true love.  That, in essence, had led him to that life at sea, away from everything and everyone, because all it did was remind him of what he had lost.

And, yes, he was not going to fall in love again, it was far too painful.

Trying to get over the overwhelming grief, still raw a year later, he hears the arrival of another guest, and curious discovers it is a woman about his age, one who is quite at odds with what he would expect as a guest, at this hotel, at this time of year.

It raises that inevitable question, why would someone like her be there?

This leads to an awkward dinner where, with only two guests in the hotel, would it not be better if they sat together?  Neither thought so, but it seems impolite not to.

From there, of course, the conversation could only get worse, with each emphasising, in their thoughts, just how much they didn’t want to be there.

It is here we discover how these two are going to get along, or not, as the days proceed, not having realised that meeting others was a possibility, but meeting someone else who might be a match, never.  Both know they’re at that hotel to stay away from everyone else, but, in the coming days, that wasn’t going to be possible.

Plans must be made.

…

NANOWRIMO November 2023 – Day 30

“Opposites Attract”

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The end or is it the beginning.

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It’s always fun to get to the end of the story.

This one, at times almost wrote itself because the elements were such a joy to write.

It started in a dance, two people who knew deep down they were in love with each other, they just either didn’t want to acknowledge it or didn’t think it was possible the other would ever see it.

How many of us sometimes look wistfully at the one we love and know it will never happen?

I’ve been there, and I know that feeling.

And then, when it is recognised, in a mad moment of realisation, you go from not having it to having it and not wanting to mess it up or wanting it to end.

Love is one of those emotions that is very hard to understand, or control, or manage, and as it is often said, the heart does what it wants to do and you sometimes have to go along for the ride.

And sometimes put yourself out there and be damned to the consequences.

It’s going to hurt, one way or another, and we can only hope it’s a good hurt and not a bad one.

But will it help to go from relatively poor to very, very rich?

That of course is another story.

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Today’s words:  1,533, for a total of 53,770

NANOWRIMO November 2023 – Day 29

“Opposites Attract”

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Home again, home again…

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After rescuing Tim and not fulfilling the mission, which might seem to become a running theme in the relationship between the grandmother and our boy, they arrive home, hitch a ride to New York in the corporate jet, and then dispatch it to Switzerland where Annie is booked into a clinic.

Good deed for the day done.

And in a last-minute move he didn’t see coming sister Darcy, best friends with everyone, has gone with Annie to be someone familiar.  Tim of course goes with her.  A ride to Europe in a private jet, and the prospect of a holiday was worth sacrificing being at the wedding.

Well, the first wedding.

But the bad news is, while our boy was away having fun in helicopters the grandmother’s condition deteriorated as anyone with stage four cancer knows.  One minute you’re reasonably OK the next, at death’s door.

Fresh off the plane, there’s just enough time to change and get to the ceremony.

There is no time to reflect on the merits of what is essentially a shotgun wedding, it’s done.

Of course, there’s a little sidebar in doing it, one that may play out in a sequel.

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Today’s words:  1,730, for a total of 52,237

NANOWRIMO November 2023 – Day 28

“Opposites Attract”

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All’s well…

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Maybe.

Shotguns are in abundance, Tim has one, and it’s a standoff until he sees Annie.

I guess when I was writing this it was a little moving, and not for the first time when writing something that is emotionally difficult, a tear or two happens.

It’s the same when I watch really emotional movies, though I never used to be like that.

To be honest, I don’t know what it would be like to be confronted with a very ill loved one.  I think there would be stunned silence, then the start of the realisation of what it means, followed by all sorts of thoughts.

Not what it would be like if there was nothing I could do.

It has happened to a lot of people around me.  My sister-in-law lost a daughter, taken by cancer.  They had been hoping she had beaten it, but it came back.

My wife’s best friend’s daughter has finally discovered why she was having stomach pains, yes, cancer again, stage 3 and there is hope.

But the emotional roller coaster is not one any of us want to get on.

At least in this story, I can give hope.

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Today’s words:  1.787, for a total of 50,507

NANOWRIMO November 2023 – Day 27

“Opposites Attract”

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Helicopters and compromise

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I have been in a helicopter once or twice and they literally take my breath away.

My wife thought it would make an amazing present, and it was coupled with a jet boat ride that was heart-pounding, and some other experience that I can’t remember at this point.

It was the helicopter ride that stuck with me, skimming the grass tops as we left the airport, heading for a mountain top known as the Remarkables.  We went up the side and then peeled away, almost sideways, and

Wow!

There was more.  It was meant to be a ten-minute ride, but it ended up being nearly half an hour when we got a call to pick up someone beside a river.

That was only a small helicopter.

The one in the story is bigger, the trip longer, over the forests to a small clearing that is only accessible by air.

Tim is basically hiding there, from everything.

Taking his very ill girlfriend there, the girl he couldn’t help because he burnt every bridge, was always going to be problematical.

Our boy didn’t ask her to go, but he was glad she did.

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Today’s words:  1,062, for a total of 48,720

NANOWRIMO November 2023 – Day 26

“Opposites Attract”

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Shotgun Annie

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There are characters that sometimes leap off the page.  I have to say at the time I was watching a Western Movie, and it had Annie Oakley in it, and the idea came that I should have a woman handy with a shotgun.

It’s not as farfetched as it seems, since a lot of women who were brought up on farms, or ranches, were good at shooting, hunting, and horse riding, though for us city-bound types it might be something of an anomaly.

Whatever I was thinking, I decided Tim needed a girlfriend who was different. Or perhaps not so different.

On the other side of the coin, I have two separate instances where friends are going through maladies, one that is not treatable, and the other requiring long and expensive treatment that will only buy a few years.

But a few years is better than the alternative, death.

In order to find out where Tim is our boy goes to meet her, fully expecting to be shot at, but devastated to discover how ill she is.

There is, of course, only one thing he can do.

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Today’s words:  931, for a total of 47,658

NANOWRIMO November 2023 – Day 25

“Opposites Attract”

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Facing the music

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With the altercation at the bar spreading like fire through a tinder dry forest, our boy goes home to see Darcy.

Yes, she already knew what was going on, and no she’s not happy, and yes, she is overjoyed that our boy will be marrying Emily.

Talk about mercurial relatives.

Then there’s that little gathering that Darcy has arranged where he can get roasted for his sins.

And from one person in particular, Xavier, who positively hates her and all her friends.

Like our boy, he had been treated badly by the girl and her friends, and having someone who was her friend wasn’t going to improve his lot.  But he did agree to be the best man.

It was not going to be a late night.

The next morning there’s a mission, he has to go and see shotgun Annie.

Yes, you heard it right, shotgun Annie.

Tim’s staunchest female ally, but there is a problem.  Just another of many he has to get past.

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Today’s words:  1,597, for a total of 46,727