Doubt The Rabbit
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October 29, 2010
As a special Part Ten treat, I thought I'd share the majority of a fictional romance short story I concocted for school purposes. I hate writing romance and drama, but...here we go, for all you romance/drama buffs.
I didn't post the beginning here because it's still under construction.
Enjoy (or not) this shitty little project.
...
I spotted a post half-hidden by a patch of unkempt grass and shrubbery. It read in gold lettering, “Welcome to Lynnewood Gardens.”
In an instant, I could feel my heart drop as a wave of nostalgia filled my body to the point where I thought it would burst. I swallowed a few times to choke down the feelings that welled up inside me.
“Your mother told me about this place,” he said. “She said that your family made a lot of good memories here.”
He opened the car door, took hold of my trembling hand, and guided me out into the frigid evening air. Breaths of wind nipped at the small of my back, teasing my nerves into a series of quivers and making my hairs stand on end.
The ground was wet and soft and gave way to the soles of my sneakers as I gazed absentmindedly at the shades of indigo painted across the sunless sky. Further below it, fireflies peeked out at us from behind the evergreen trees, hovered over the pool and blinked near the huckleberry bushes. Their flickering glow took the place of the stars that were hidden behind the cornflower clouds.
I should have stormed away.
Who was he to meddle in my life? Who told him to bring me out to this place where the memories I spent years packing away would suddenly unfurl before my eyes, bringing with them the haunting knowledge that I would never experience them again?
A drop of water fell onto my cheek. A cool comfort soon met with my own warm, bitter tears.
As the clouds began to pour, my body began to tremble. My tears began to burn. I felt as if every drop would evaporate and the clear image of my ugly expression would be all that was left.
Eric tugged on my arm and we ran across the field towards the poolside snack shop’s terrace whose awning shielded us from the downpour.
I distanced myself from him under the sputtering orange light the lamp outside the snack shop door cast in the near-dark.
“You shouldn’t have done this,” I said, my voice wavering barely above a whisper. “**** it, Eric, You should not have done this!”
Eric also moved back. His bewildered expression was priceless.
“I showed you those poems and told you those things because I didn’t think you would care! You were just some guy I was venting to! I was not crying for help!”
“I just wanted to give you the chance to make some new memories!” he said. His eyes were just as distressed as mine. “I didn’t want to see you so unhappy with your life!”
“Well look at me now. Do I look happy?”
I turned and ran for the nearest bus stop. I didn’t want him to answer that. Not when I already knew the answer.
>><<
“Gesundheit.”
I turned and looked behind me with my hand still covering my mouth and my palm still covered in debris from my sneeze. It was Suzan, the nighttime nurse, carrying a slew of vending machine snacks.
“It’s getting late,” she said.
“It’s only 9:30.”
“Still, it’s past visiting hours. No big sisters allowed.” She handed me a bag of sourdough pretzels. My favorite.
I knew she was only kidding. A sibling staying in after visiting hours was no skin off her back.
“Don’t stay down here too long,” she said as she turned her back to me and started for the elevators. “It’s pretty cold.”
I re-opened my notebook and began to scribble away again, just as I had been for the last two weeks. And just like the last two weeks, nothing interesting happened. I woke up. Ate ramen. Watched TV. Hung out in the cafeteria. Soon, it would be time to go home and wait for the next boring, uneventful day.
I dropped my pen and raised my hand to my face to cover a fit of violent coughs. My hair was still wet even though I dried off in the bathroom. Despite my mother’s warnings, I felt as though I would not be able to write anything unless my mind was awakened by the shock of the cold, empty air in the cafeteria. It would be my own fault if I got pneumonia from it.
I jotted down the closing to my journal entry, eased the book shut, and placed the pen neatly on top of it. I figured my dad would be coming soon to pick me up. Sighing heavily, I rose to my feet and stuffed the journal and pen into my sweater pocket. Time to go upstairs.
I pressed the call button for the elevator. As usual, the cars were taking their sweet time getting down to the ground floor. When the doors finally opened, I walked inside with my head hung low. Pressed the button for the fourth floor. Waited.
The bell dinged again and the doors parted. I stepped out.
My face planted into the surface of something wet and fleshy.
“Eric!” I gasped when I looked up to see his forlorn face. He was still wearing the drenched scrubs from earlier. His shoes squeaked as he stepped towards me until I was backed against the elevator door. I was sure he was freezing, but it seemed like that didn’t matter. He looked frustrated. He looked sad. He looked confused and he looked hurt. The one thing he didn’t look was cold.
I looked left and right, sizing up my options for escape. Only it was too late.
Eric gripped my wrist and jerked me towards him. He stormed to the south hall. I stumbled forward, trying to keep up with him.
Suddenly, he stopped in front of the pantry. The keypad beeped five times. Click. The door whined as he eased it open and again as it eased shut.
“Eric, what are you—”
“Shush.” He pinned me to the wall next to the metal plate where the light switch should have been. When the motion sensor could no longer detect us, the lights shut off.
Seconds melted into minutes where there was nothing but the hum of the water dispenser’s cooling unit. Droplets of rain water slinked down the short strands of Eric’s brown hair and dripped onto my nose. Still, I did not move.
“I want you to know that I am not sorry for what I did,” he said, breaking the silence.
“Well gee! Thanks for letting me know!”
“Shush!” He cupped his hand over my mouth. “Not only that, you weren’t really sorry for being there. You spent so much time forgetting your past that you don’t know what to do with yourself when you’re faced with it.
A familiar smell…a nostalgic song…you probably avoid them all just so you won’t miss the way things used to be. Just so you won’t make yourself vulnerable.”
I stayed quiet.
“That is why I want to keep playing this game. I want to continue to draw out your emotions because I feel like this evening I have met you for the very first time. All the different and complex levels of your personality—I’ll take them all.”
I couldn’t breathe anymore. Eric would not let me. He pressed his palm against my mouth and let his weight slump forward for me to bear. His heavy breaths sucked the oxygen out of the terrifyingly small pantry room and his pounding heart caused my body to shudder under each intense beat. I couldn’t breathe.
I thought he would finally let me when he moved his hand away.
But no. He pressed his lips against mine. He sucked the oxygen clean out of me. I gasped. My first kiss. He took it for himself. Tangled his fingers in my hair. Eased my head back and towered over me. Bullied me. Teased me. Rendered my right arm useless while my left palm pushed feebly into his chest. Dug his teeth into my bottom lip. Whispered three incomprehensible words.
What were they?
And so ends the ramblings of a boring and uneventful day.
I hit the “post” button and instantly my journal entry from the evening became open to the public. Another boring, uneventful day. Having expected to wait an hour or so before the first reply from another forum member, I opened my journal and began to scribble once again.
And so ends the ramblings of a boring and uneventful day.
As a special Part Ten treat, I thought I'd share the majority of a fictional romance short story I concocted for school purposes. I hate writing romance and drama, but...here we go, for all you romance/drama buffs.
I didn't post the beginning here because it's still under construction.
Enjoy (or not) this shitty little project.
...
I spotted a post half-hidden by a patch of unkempt grass and shrubbery. It read in gold lettering, “Welcome to Lynnewood Gardens.”
In an instant, I could feel my heart drop as a wave of nostalgia filled my body to the point where I thought it would burst. I swallowed a few times to choke down the feelings that welled up inside me.
“Your mother told me about this place,” he said. “She said that your family made a lot of good memories here.”
He opened the car door, took hold of my trembling hand, and guided me out into the frigid evening air. Breaths of wind nipped at the small of my back, teasing my nerves into a series of quivers and making my hairs stand on end.
The ground was wet and soft and gave way to the soles of my sneakers as I gazed absentmindedly at the shades of indigo painted across the sunless sky. Further below it, fireflies peeked out at us from behind the evergreen trees, hovered over the pool and blinked near the huckleberry bushes. Their flickering glow took the place of the stars that were hidden behind the cornflower clouds.
I should have stormed away.
Who was he to meddle in my life? Who told him to bring me out to this place where the memories I spent years packing away would suddenly unfurl before my eyes, bringing with them the haunting knowledge that I would never experience them again?
A drop of water fell onto my cheek. A cool comfort soon met with my own warm, bitter tears.
As the clouds began to pour, my body began to tremble. My tears began to burn. I felt as if every drop would evaporate and the clear image of my ugly expression would be all that was left.
Eric tugged on my arm and we ran across the field towards the poolside snack shop’s terrace whose awning shielded us from the downpour.
I distanced myself from him under the sputtering orange light the lamp outside the snack shop door cast in the near-dark.
“You shouldn’t have done this,” I said, my voice wavering barely above a whisper. “**** it, Eric, You should not have done this!”
Eric also moved back. His bewildered expression was priceless.
“I showed you those poems and told you those things because I didn’t think you would care! You were just some guy I was venting to! I was not crying for help!”
“I just wanted to give you the chance to make some new memories!” he said. His eyes were just as distressed as mine. “I didn’t want to see you so unhappy with your life!”
“Well look at me now. Do I look happy?”
I turned and ran for the nearest bus stop. I didn’t want him to answer that. Not when I already knew the answer.
>><<
“Gesundheit.”
I turned and looked behind me with my hand still covering my mouth and my palm still covered in debris from my sneeze. It was Suzan, the nighttime nurse, carrying a slew of vending machine snacks.
“It’s getting late,” she said.
“It’s only 9:30.”
“Still, it’s past visiting hours. No big sisters allowed.” She handed me a bag of sourdough pretzels. My favorite.
I knew she was only kidding. A sibling staying in after visiting hours was no skin off her back.
“Don’t stay down here too long,” she said as she turned her back to me and started for the elevators. “It’s pretty cold.”
I re-opened my notebook and began to scribble away again, just as I had been for the last two weeks. And just like the last two weeks, nothing interesting happened. I woke up. Ate ramen. Watched TV. Hung out in the cafeteria. Soon, it would be time to go home and wait for the next boring, uneventful day.
I dropped my pen and raised my hand to my face to cover a fit of violent coughs. My hair was still wet even though I dried off in the bathroom. Despite my mother’s warnings, I felt as though I would not be able to write anything unless my mind was awakened by the shock of the cold, empty air in the cafeteria. It would be my own fault if I got pneumonia from it.
I jotted down the closing to my journal entry, eased the book shut, and placed the pen neatly on top of it. I figured my dad would be coming soon to pick me up. Sighing heavily, I rose to my feet and stuffed the journal and pen into my sweater pocket. Time to go upstairs.
I pressed the call button for the elevator. As usual, the cars were taking their sweet time getting down to the ground floor. When the doors finally opened, I walked inside with my head hung low. Pressed the button for the fourth floor. Waited.
The bell dinged again and the doors parted. I stepped out.
My face planted into the surface of something wet and fleshy.
“Eric!” I gasped when I looked up to see his forlorn face. He was still wearing the drenched scrubs from earlier. His shoes squeaked as he stepped towards me until I was backed against the elevator door. I was sure he was freezing, but it seemed like that didn’t matter. He looked frustrated. He looked sad. He looked confused and he looked hurt. The one thing he didn’t look was cold.
I looked left and right, sizing up my options for escape. Only it was too late.
Eric gripped my wrist and jerked me towards him. He stormed to the south hall. I stumbled forward, trying to keep up with him.
Suddenly, he stopped in front of the pantry. The keypad beeped five times. Click. The door whined as he eased it open and again as it eased shut.
“Eric, what are you—”
“Shush.” He pinned me to the wall next to the metal plate where the light switch should have been. When the motion sensor could no longer detect us, the lights shut off.
Seconds melted into minutes where there was nothing but the hum of the water dispenser’s cooling unit. Droplets of rain water slinked down the short strands of Eric’s brown hair and dripped onto my nose. Still, I did not move.
“I want you to know that I am not sorry for what I did,” he said, breaking the silence.
“Well gee! Thanks for letting me know!”
“Shush!” He cupped his hand over my mouth. “Not only that, you weren’t really sorry for being there. You spent so much time forgetting your past that you don’t know what to do with yourself when you’re faced with it.
A familiar smell…a nostalgic song…you probably avoid them all just so you won’t miss the way things used to be. Just so you won’t make yourself vulnerable.”
I stayed quiet.
“That is why I want to keep playing this game. I want to continue to draw out your emotions because I feel like this evening I have met you for the very first time. All the different and complex levels of your personality—I’ll take them all.”
I couldn’t breathe anymore. Eric would not let me. He pressed his palm against my mouth and let his weight slump forward for me to bear. His heavy breaths sucked the oxygen out of the terrifyingly small pantry room and his pounding heart caused my body to shudder under each intense beat. I couldn’t breathe.
I thought he would finally let me when he moved his hand away.
But no. He pressed his lips against mine. He sucked the oxygen clean out of me. I gasped. My first kiss. He took it for himself. Tangled his fingers in my hair. Eased my head back and towered over me. Bullied me. Teased me. Rendered my right arm useless while my left palm pushed feebly into his chest. Dug his teeth into my bottom lip. Whispered three incomprehensible words.
What were they?
And so ends the ramblings of a boring and uneventful day.
I hit the “post” button and instantly my journal entry from the evening became open to the public. Another boring, uneventful day. Having expected to wait an hour or so before the first reply from another forum member, I opened my journal and began to scribble once again.
And so ends the ramblings of a boring and uneventful day.
To Never Again be Read or Remembered.
Tomorrow, Eric will be transferring to Duke University. He told me that he wanted to get to know me before he left and then apologized for not telling me sooner.
I guess I should have seen it coming.
I wished him luck with a genuine smile and not an ounce of regret. After all, it wasn’t as if I needed him to stay or anything. Right?
Anyway, I now know what the three words were.
'See you, Allison.'
Tomorrow, Eric will be transferring to Duke University. He told me that he wanted to get to know me before he left and then apologized for not telling me sooner.
I guess I should have seen it coming.
I wished him luck with a genuine smile and not an ounce of regret. After all, it wasn’t as if I needed him to stay or anything. Right?
Anyway, I now know what the three words were.
'See you, Allison.'
(ofc, should be used wisely - but it DOES work here. all the more memorable and touching. makes you identify with the character more.) 
