Years ago i loved to write stories. One idea i had recently was to use this blog as a place to encourage me to write. I think that with practice i can improve my writing skills. Here is a story that i wrote (just put the finishing touches on it this morning!) in response to a writing prompt that i found on a blog that has a weekly link up. Other bloggers share their writing based on different prompts. I hope you enjoy my first story. Be sure to check out the link up as well! The button is below (yep, that's my ploy to get you to read the story first before heading over to read what others wrote!) BTW, I chose a prompt from the prompt generator this time around. Feel free to check that out by clicking the button below and then clicking on the Writing Prompts link in the top right corner!
When Chapstick Fails
She frantically open up her purse and searched for her
Chapstick. She knew it was floating around near the bottom of her bag but of
course, when she wanted it the most she
couldn't find it. It was always in the back of her bag. Any time she had her
nerves all a-flutter she reached for her purse, pocket or cubby to find the
nearest Chapstick that had been tucked away.
Today the situation was one of high stress. She was
horrified that she had already run late and the truth was that she needed the
job, badly. She found her Chapstick and walked through the door to the office
of John G. Walker, Attorney at Law. She told the lady at the front desk her
name and that she had a meeting with Samuel Calhoun at 9 am. She glanced at the
clock and so did the woman behind the desk. It was 9:15.
Little did they know the route that it had taken to get
there. The morning had been a bit hectic and she was quite relieved to only be
15 minutes late. The truth was she had woken up on time at 6:30 and helped her
husband make breakfast and lunches for the kids. He took the kids to school,
which left her time to get ready for the job interview at a popular law office.
She had been a stay at home mom for some time and desperately needed to get out
of the home more.
Once the children and her husband left, she began to tidy up
and then headed to the shower. She showered, did her hair and make up and then
began getting dressed when the fire alarm went off. Half dressed she headed to the fire alarm
that was sounding off in the kitchen. Smoke was filling the room and she
checked the oven where it was coming from. Turns out her husband had left the
oven on and stuck the breakfast casserole back into the oven to keep it warm.
He left in a hurry and had forgotten that the oven still had the dish inside.
It was charred badly, but the smoke ceased and so did the blaring noise of the
alarm. She returned to getting ready for the interview.
Once ready, she quickly grabbed her bag and headed to the
car. She hopped in and not two seconds later was on the road. She stopped
calmly at a stop sign and took a sip of her morning coffee from her purple
travel mug. She looked in her rear view mirror as she heard tires screech and
then braced herself to be hit. It wasn't bad but she had been rear ended! Ugh!
She thought as she got out of her car. The driver from the car who had just hit
her quickly put his car in reverse and then sped around her and her car. She
quickly tried to get the license plate number, make and model of the car. She
could only see a few letters and numbers on the California plate.
She quickly called the police and knew she would be late for
sure. It was lucky she had left early enough to run a few errands and then had
planned to head to the interview that had been scheduled the day before.
The police arrived soon after the call and took a report.
The car was not damaged badly, so withing 30 minutes she as on her way. She
would notify her insurance later that day. Now she would have to go straight to
the interview. Her errands would have to wait 'til after. She had wanted the
day to go exceptionally but knew then that the reality would be not so
exceptional. She could only hope that the interview would go better. The woman
at the law office asked her to take a seat and said that Mr. Calhoun would be
with her shortly. Five minutes later the woman ask her to follow her and she
led her to the conference room just around the corner. The room had a great
view of the Pacific Ocean and moments later Mr. Calhoun entered the room.
She quickly apologized for her tardiness and commented on the incredible view
from the building. The view was so beautiful and she tried so hard to
concentrate on Mr. Calhoun and what he was saying. After a few minutes he said,
"do you smell smoke?" She quietly said no and the interview carried
on.
Once the interview concluded, she left and once out of the
office door, reached again for her Chapstick. She would have thought that would
have made it better, but it didn't. She ran her errands and then it was time to
pick her daughter from kindergarten.
They would head home right after, change and head to the park until it was time
to pick up her son. It turns out by 3 pm she realized that what she needed to
make it better was her kids. She needed a hug from each of them which she got
as soon as they reached her outside their school! She realized that the job was
not what she needed and Chapstick was easily not the solution to her simple
problems. It was her children. She needed to be what she was: a mother.
