Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Empty House

I can’t remember the last time that I was this tired.  My feet are dragging as I trudge up the walkway and my mind has so many thoughts swirling around that I don’t even remember pulling into the driveway or opening my front door. 

I probably shouldn’t even drive when I am this distracted but then how would I get away from that hellhole of an office?  Something has to change soon…..  the stress is killing me.  Mr. Edwards was an absolute bear, growling at everyone; especially me.  If only I hadn’t reversed the numbers in that journal entry, I might have escaped his notice.   

Instead I ended up in the bathroom sobbing with Jenny trying to comfort me with her funny impersonations of the boss man.  It almost worked. 

I absently open the hall closet to deposit my coat and stop dead in my tracks.  It’s empty.  Where are the jackets, boots, shoes and other paraphenalia that usually clutter this closet?  I look around and realize that the welcome mat isn’t under my feet.  Where is the mirror where I check my lipstick before I walk out each morning? 

Have I been robbed?  Who would steal these things? 

It isn’t just these inconsequential things though.  Looking into my living room I can see that it is bare.  My couch, my coffee table, my pictures, TV, everything is gone!  It’s the same story in the bedroom and kitchen; not even a crumb is left and both rooms are cleaner than I’ve ever managed to keep them.  My toothbrush isn’t even in the bathroom. 

I’m so stunned that I can’t even process this.  It’s definitely my house; I can see my favourite cherry tree in full spring bloom outside the kitchen window.   

I should call the police but there is no phone and patting my pockets, I realize that I must have left my cell phone out in the car.  As I turn to head out there, I hear a key turning in the front door lock and freeze.  Have the robbers come back?  That’s crazy, there’s nothing left to come back for! 

A pretty woman in a nice business suit walks into my house followed by a middle-aged couple.  They are talking about what a nice area this is.  Right, an area where people’s homes get emptied while they are gone!   

Now she’s showing them the living room, still going on about community amenities and tax rates and they are completely ignoring me.  Then the husband asked why the current owner had moved. 

“It’s such a sad story.  The young woman who owned this house was driving during that last blizzard we had when her employer called her on her cell phone.  The call distracted her from the road and, well ……. as I said, it’s a sad thing” 

Maybe I really shouldn’t have been driving. 


Sunday, April 27, 2014

Getting Started

Welcome to my attempt at tinkering with fiction - as the blog name implies. 

A little bit about me: 

I am a 44 year old divorced mom of two teenagers, The Boy (15) and The Girl (13)and a cat who lives in the suburbs of Montreal and would be happy to see those spring flowers any day now…… 

I have a blog called A Day in the Life of Kat where I talk about what is going on around me, share the occasional recipe, talk about what books I’m reading, participate in a couple of different writing prompt link-ups and pretty much anything else that is on my mind that I think others may be interested in.  I have really come to treasure the friendships that have been created there and the interactions with other bloggers. 

I am a long-time avid reader who loves mysteries, thrillers, some horror (yes Stephen King, I’m talking about you) along with a smattering of fantasy and science fiction.  I’m not a “chick lit” kind of gal but will step out of the previously listed genres when a book ("chick lit" or otherwise) comes along that piques my interest. 

Being such an avid reader, I have always toyed with the idea of writing fiction myself but I’ve never had the confidence to really have a go at it.  I was great at math in school but struggled with writing and the arts.  I’m older and (hopefully) wiser now and have gained some experience and confidence with my other blog so I’ve decided to take a leap of faith here. 

I recently started following Indie Chick Lit on Google + and seeing that they post regular writing prompts has tempted and inspired me.  I also have a book of writing prompts that I bought a while back but have yet to do much with.  Having this blog here waiting for me to publish on it will (again, hopefully) motivate me to really give this a chance. 

It has been suggested to me that I should perhaps set up a fiction page on my other blog and those who suggested it are probably quite right.  I just want to keep this little experiment separate for now.  If it is something that I truly get into and my confidence grows, I may eventually merge the two blogs but, for now, I'm going to go this route.

Everything posted on this blog will be fiction.  For the most part, my language will be fairly clean and without sexually explicit content so that my writing will be appealing to most people.  I’m not here to be controversial; I just want to exercise my poor little imagination and, as my confidence grows, hope to build myself a small audience.   

I hope that those who do stop by, especially in the beginning, will be kind (read gentle) in their comments so that this can be a good and encouraging experience for me as I spread my wings.  My goal isn't to make a living at this (let's be realistic) but I'm hoping have some fun exploring my creative side.  That being said, any “real” writers who stop by who would like to offer tips will be thanked from the bottom of my heart. 



Kathy