Chapter 1: 20 Something

Reads: 889
Comments: 4

“Hmm… chicken or fish? Chicken? Or fish? Ugh, why is it that all of my friends are getting married?” Alisa threw down the latest invitation to another friend’s wedding onto her black lacquered coffee table. Of all of the questions she should be asking herself about her life right now, the biggest one she was faced with was the dilemma of what plate she’d like at the reception to follow’s sit down dinner.

“Well, guess I’ll have to take my black dress down the dry cleaners tomorrow,” she said resolutely to her overweight orange tabby. It took the opportunity of mail being thrown at it to decide that the window sill would be a much calmer place to relax than the coffee table. “Who likes to stand out at one of these things anyways?”

Alisa, a standard 20 something, was three years out of college, four states away from the one she grew up in, and five minutes away from a steaming bathtub that would hopefully take away some of her stress. Yes, a hot soak in the tub, a good book, and a glass of wine would really be worthwhile right now. The day had started off well enough. Her morning coffee from the shop around the corner had been perfect. Her schedule hadn’t been that hectic, really. Even the cab ride home had been enjoyable, if a little smelly. But as soon as she had opened the little gold post office box marked 947 in the lobby of her apartment, that familiar chill crept over her, and she had known what she would find inside it.

It shouldn’t bother her as much as it did, but every few days, she received another invitation from another friend, with its ribbon and scrollwork belying her own impending doom. Today’s invitation came to her from a childhood friend, whose situation was a happy one, no doubt, but also one of which Alisa’s mother - if she didn’t already know - would soon hear of.

Ring ring.

“Damn.”

Ring ring.

And there it was, the telltale sign that her mother had already found out about the joyous occasion.

Submitted: July 01, 2008

Romance love marriage passion angst

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Comments

Middle School Writer

I liek it cant wait to hear more. I think there is a lot of posibilty wounder what will happen

Fri, April 3rd, 2009 2:14am

Author
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Yeah, same here! I started writing it, got busy, and lost track of my character :( Maybe one day she'll come back to me!

Thu, April 2nd, 2009 7:43pm

Tyshawn1

Hey Lady E, I like this novel do you have any more pages? I think you set the tone and have the reader wondering if Alisa is in the middle of a break up, has not met that special guy, what's going on here and whaat's going to happen? Send over more, ok?
cathy

Fri, April 10th, 2009 4:26am

Author
Reply

Well, this character and I sort of had a falling out last summer (ie, I didn't know what direction she wanted to go), so I haven't written more. Once this semester ends, I'll probably have a few weeks to sit down and find her again. I'll let you know when I do!

Fri, April 10th, 2009 5:16am

romp365

An interesting start to this story. Like Tyshawn, I'm wondering what her story is at the moment. However, I'm also wondering about the cat's purpose too. I'm curious to see what kind of relationship the two of them have. Cats, from what I understand, are quite particular about whom they befriend. Are the two of them friends? Enemies? Possibly "Frenemies?"

I guess I'll have to read on.

If I did have a gripe with this from a literary standpoint, its only that the main character's conflict is less apparent than it might be. However, having the mother's phone call at the tail end of it was a nice touch to encourage me to read on further.

Again, like the cat, what kind of relationship will the main character have with her mother? I hope to find out the answers to both these questions in the chapters to follow.

Cheers.

Tue, April 21st, 2009 3:05am

Author
Reply

Sometimes, a cat is just a cat :)

Thanks for reading, this was my first posting on the site (last year), and as you have probably discovered, the character and I parted ways... hopefully we'll regroup soon and I'll add more.

Also, I think from a woman's standpoint the conflict is particularly apparent: all of her friends are getting married, and she has not... (for some women, that's a pretty big conflict hahaha).

Mon, April 20th, 2009 9:08pm

Chloe the guitar girl

I love the beggining, the line;

Chicken? Or fish? Ugh, why is it that all of my friends are getting married?” lol i just thought that that was funny how you did that. =) Plus, i found it really funny that she was talking to her cat about it, ive found myself going over dilemmas to my dog lol.

i liked this beginning though, i think you did a great job with it :)

Wed, May 12th, 2010 3:27pm

Author
Reply

Thanks so much!

Wed, May 12th, 2010 8:48am