Oh well, she thought, If I'm going to do this thing, I'd better drag my sorry arse out of bed. The slump she'd been in for the whole last month was still in effect but she knew if she wanted things to change she would just have to push through it. With a deep breath and a quick stretch she managed to pull her heavy body from the bed. It was time. Time to make things happen. She padded softly from her bedroom and made her way down the stairs.
In the kitchen she switched on the kettle, and then began tidying the debris from the previous days. One of the tell-tell signs of her slump was the mess she had allowed herself to live in. It was a letting go; an abandonment of care. With another deep breath stirring her into action she began to organise the clutter. She turned the hot tap on and allowed it to warm up while she sneaked into the living room to pick up the cups and plates she knew she had left there. Eventually, she had a large stack of cups, plates, glasses and cutlery all sitting by the now ready sink. The kettle had boiled. She took one of the cups and washed it. Before anything else she needed her cup of morning coffee.
With her coffee made, she sat at her island and looked at the mountain of washing up. How had she let everything go so far? It looked like every piece of crockery she owned was in that pile. She knew the answer and felt another wave of sadness roll right through her body. She held the hot cup up to her lips and blew it before taking a sip. I have two choices, she thought. I can either allow another day to pass, or I can get back to living. That mountain is the first of many I will need to climb.
It was still so tempting to choose the first option and make her way back to bed. But the bed didn’t hold anything for her. It was empty. And how long could she go on in this way? No, she thought. It’s time. It’s time for me to move. Time for me to ease back into this new, strange world. She looked at the crumpled letter that lay in front of her on the island. Putting down her cup she leaned to pick it up. She slowly opened up the paper, placing it on the hard surface and smoothing it out so she could read it again.
The tears that she now lived in washed down her face. The stark reality lay written on the pages. Her old life crumpled within it. She breathed again. Slowly and deeply. “Right!” she said aloud. “Those dishes aren’t going to clean themselves.” And with that she made her way to the kitchen sink and began to tackle her first mountain of the day. For a while she even managed to lose herself in the task, concentrating hard on each item, ensuring they were all meticulously cleaned. By the time she had finished, with everything put away, it was time for another cup of coffee. It was only 8am. She had a good three hours before she needed to be ready for the longstanding appointment. Time enough to choose what to wear and get ready.
With a new found force, she flew into cleaning the rest of the kitchen. It was good to feel her body moving again as she swayed with the mop around the kitchen floor. By the time she had finished, she had blitzed the whole of the downstairs and even hoovered the stairs, leaving her Dyson in the small box room so she could finish the upstairs rooms at some later time.
A beginning. With 637 words written this morning, I am easing myself into both March Madness and the Day 1 - Prompt: In the club. There are ideas swirling around in my head but, alas, I have a job and the time has come for me to get ready and get to it.
What I haven't managed in words today, I will make up for tomorrow. Thank goodness for weekends. I may very well have to plot in more words for my Saturdays and Sundays over this month of madness. Still, I am happy to have made a start and already I feel a story shaping itself in my mind. There are a couple of strains tugging at my creativity. As yet, I am not sure which thread will win.
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You did great @juliamulcahy, no matter who many words you got for this first day. I'm so excited to see a curie vote on Day One of March Madness for freewritehouse. I'm only a cheerleader for this event and you give me something to cheer for right out of the gate! I look forward to reading all the twists and turns to come :)
Amen, sister! All we can ever do is carry on.
Thank you @fitinfun. After work, I had an event to go to raising money for charity and have only just now popped into the steemiverse. I'm actually blown away. Certainly encouraging to get on with writing and adding those twists and turns.
This post was nominated by a @curie curator to be featured in an upcoming Author Showcase that will be posted in about 12 hours on the @curie blog.
NOTE: If you would like us to NOT feature your post in the Author Showcase please reply, or DM me on Discord as soon as possible. Any photos or quoted text from your post that we feature will be properly attributed to you as the author.
You can check out a previous Author Showcase I wrote to get an idea of what we are doing with these posts.
Thanks for your time and for creating great content.
Zoe (@curie curator)
Thank you @zoexantelamv, I have no objections to you featuring my post. In fact, it would be an honour. I will send you a brief statement about myself via Discord.
Forget about word count. You have a great start here! I'm eager to know what's in the letter (her husband is leaving her?) and if the appointment is with a divorce lawyer. I love to see a character rise from the ashes and take charge and go on with living. On to chapter 2!
Hehehe, this feels like time travel. I've just read your two comments on my latest post and then Ginabot showed me that you have been very busy reading all my earlier posts. For that reason, along with others, I'm glad my word count wasn't horrendously hot on target. Thank you.
You're most welcome!
It may very well be that Doris will be the star of a long short story or a novella or a series of vignettes. Ignore the word count, the monthly goal, and live in the moment with Doris - discover what she discovers - and then tell us! We readers can be insufferable gossips at heart. We want to know how that jilted woman who didn't leave the house for three week and lived in squalor manages to wake up one day, clean house, walk out that door, and start living again. Deirdre is the perfect foil - she plays the "gossip" for us, even though I know full well busybody isn't really what Deirdre is, but Michael ribs her for it, and readers love Deirdre all the more for it. How dare her husband suggest that she needs Doris to be needy, and to need her. You have really created a captivating cast here, Julia, and I will nag you to keep us up to date on their latest antics!
Hehehe.
Congratulations on the Curie ma'am! A well deserved one too!
Off to a great start I'd say.
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Somehow, @kchitrah, I have missed your comments until now. I'm pretty sure GinaBot hasn't been telling me you've visited. I will have to go and let her know it's just not good enough! xxx
To find the motivation to start and then the will to continue can be extremely daunting. Well done.
Now that was funny! Thanks @smokingfit. We all have different kinds of motivation to drag our sorry arses out of bed. This is but one, albeit seemingly very effective. ;)
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Hi juliamulcahy,
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Thank you @curie. It's lovely to return to a post and find a comment from you. :D
Loving that you got a curie vote on this first March Madness Post!!
Me too! :D
Your fiction looks even more like a real life incidence. I really enjoyed every single word in there, plus your flow was awesome. I had to read it over and over because I couldn't resist myself. Great piece and keep the writing spirit up
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Thank you @ferrate for your kind compliments. The protagonist was a little bit like myself yesterday morning. Sometimes you just have to take inspiration from reality! ;)
Of cos, the reality is always worth living. You are humbly welcome though
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Awesome write up, totally mesmerizing. I'm trying to improve my writing skills myself and this is perfect to expanse my not so vast vocabulary. Cheers!
Glad you enjoyed it @jonsnow1983 😊
This is wonderful writing, and depicts a scene that I can easily put myself into, based on past events (or might even be in, now, sort-of). Such a good piece of work! Bravo!
Oh, thank you @thekittygirl. It means so much coming from you.
I hope you move through the event swiftly and look after yourself. I tend to feel my protagonists as I write, and I'm hoping my character, Doris, will adjust to her new world fairly quickly.
Oh girl!
Keep writing and I'll keep reading!
Thanks for sharing your words madly but truly and deeply are inspiration.
Have a blessed Sunday!
Thank you @ronel, and a blessed Sunday to you too. <3
Thank you and you're welcome!
Enjoy your day girl!