Saturday, April 27, 2019

Stuck for an ending...

for one of my fiction pieces so I'll do a prompt this week. Best case, maybe I'll write a flash...worst case something will germinate while I play with this, which I got from this site, Self-publishing School
#4 – Your main character has been living a very sheltered, very dangerous life. After the death of their overbearing father, they’re thrust into the real world – only to realize just how different their life really is from those around them.

Here's what I wrote...from this, you can see that "A Patch Of Blue" is one of my favorite movies...see it if you haven't.
 

Though the hospital wasn’t exactly quiet, compared to the bustle of a burger joint during lunch rush, it seemed like it. It smelled better, though, with a welcoming hint of onions. Nora moved forward on her crutches, and felt nervous as she watched two teenaged boys play-fighting in line in front of her.(At least, she hoped it was play-fighting, because she’d be in a bad position if it wasn’t) She felt like everyone in the restaurant was watching her, not because she was paranoid, but because she’d been holed up with her family for days, since she got the call about Dad. They weren’t understanding all the time, far from it, but they had known what she looked like since birth. She dreaded it when strangers looked at her like it was sad when she was out on her own, but her sister said she made it up. Kate was perfect, though, they didn’t have the same problems.

As her time came up in line,  Nora wished she could have faced another hospital-cafeteria pudding cup. Everyone’s order, once it’s laid out, is bigger than she expected…three orders of fries, large, but just the fries, as if everyone agreed a full greasy meal would be unseemly, Kate’s apple pie…she can’t remember who wanted the fish sandwich, her own chicken tenders…and there was something else she couldn’t remember.   The pause stretches out and her cheeks flush…people behind her start getting restless, when it mercifully jumped in her mind. “Um, can I get a vanilla shake?” She sounded so awkward, like she was ordering porn, or gunpowder.

“You sure about that?” the guy behind the counter said. He had dark skin and eyes and even she could tell he was just teasing. He had a little bit of accent, too.  She smiled, feeling lighter for a moment not being the crippled lady whose dad was probably dying, and sat while he put some vanilla stuff into a cup.”yeah, great…”

“Fucking finally…is the telethon over yet? Because some of us have jobs to get back to…” A harsh male voice behind her blurted out.

Meanwhile, she looked at the big unwieldy bag, and her two hands filled with crutches…even without the shake in there, resting in its holder, she wasn’t sure what she’d been thinking. Just that her dad liked it when she handled things by herself…tears swam in her eyes.

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