Laura Howard: Without Thinking Too Hard- Just Write! Week One

11/4/12

Without Thinking Too Hard- Just Write! Week One


Like it Doesn't Even Matter Anymore


When I think of that summer, I think of watermelon and tangled limbs. The smell of lake water lingers in my nose when I remember the way it felt to lose myself in your kisses. You were the first of all my firsts and nothing can change that.

I heard that you were getting married today. As I sit outside the church, I see the limo pull up and the group of girls tumble out. I can tell which one is yours, she's wearing the biggest smile. I would be smiling too, if I were about to marry you.

I crush another cigarette beneath  my sandal, tasting the familiar regret. It's been six years since that summer of you and me. I was young and scared and you were as bright as the sun. None of this should even matter to me anymore. It shouldn't, but it does.

When I saw the positive sign, I didn't know how to tell you. I couldn't tell you. So, I let you go, let you hate me. I did what I had to do, but you wouldn't understand.

I wonder today if maybe you would have loved me anyway. Loved us. Would you have understood my choices, what I knew was the right thing?

The heavy door to the church closes with a thud. I swallow the ashes of my memory and turn. You're there, eyes wide with surprise when you see me. I open my mouth to tell you what's in my heart. 

But, I don't. I can't. I assemble my features into disinterest and walk past you, pretending I don't even know who you are. Like it doesn't even matter anymore.


RebeccaTDickson.com and Laura Howard are pleased to bring you a weekly writing prompt designed to answer that very question. We want your guts on the page.
Don’t think too hard. Just write.

How it works

1. Read/view the weekly writing prompt. (Sometimes a word or phrase, and sometimes an image.)
2. Write a blog post in response and link back to us.
3. Use Mister Linky (below) to share your new post.
Responses to current prompts are due by noon each Friday.
A new prompt goes live every Friday at 5 pm.
Remember to link your response here *and* use this week’s Mister Linky so we can all read your brilliance.
If you do not have a blog, feel free to leave your post in the comments below.

How to use Mister Linky:

  1. Enter your name.
  2. Enter the URL of the actual post that you want people to visit – not your blog or a website home page. (“http://rebeccatdicksoncom/2012/10/withoutthinkingtoohard.htm” would be correct; “http://rebeccatdickson.com” would not.)
  3. If your prompt contains adult language or content, please put an “M” after your name and the day (e.g. “Rebecca Dickson M”).
Has your link been deleted? This tool is not for sharing links to your blog unless your blog post is related to today’s prompt, or you’ve blogged about “Without Thinking Too Hard.” Help us stay on-track.
Laura Howard is an author, mother, voracious reader and blogger of all things publishing-related. She excels at breaking down the basics of writing for folks new to the craft. Contact her at howardgirls2003(at)gmail(dot)com.
Rebecca T. Dickson is also an author, mother, and voracious reader. In addition, she considers it a personal challenge to bear her soul in every word she puts on the page. Writing raw is her life’s crusade. Contact her at beckster7219(at)gmail(dot)com.



7 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thank you Becky. I need to go and reread your entry now, so I can see if I unconsciously replicated it!

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  2. Replies
    1. Thanks for reading it, Tana. It was kind of fun to shut off my internal harpy and just tell a little story.

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  3. Hey, this looks like a fun game Laura. I love that kind of from the heart writing. Have you ever read The Artist's Way? I'm sure you have. That's the kind of automatic writing which is so very healthy, isn't it.

    I love this bitter poem. What a choice to have to make. I told myself, after I read it, that there's always tomorrow.

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    Replies
    1. I actually haven't read The Artist's Way, Veronica I have never really considered myself an artist :D But, it was fun to just start with something so vague and build an entire memory from it. The skewed focus of the picture, isn't that so reminiscent of first love? And, to choose to give up your love- twice even. Well, that's just bitter. Maybe sometime I'll look at this picture again and see a whole different scenario.

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  4. Really nice piece of writing - I especially like the first line. And thanks for starting up this picture prompt.
    Mine is here: http://worksbyclaire.wordpress.com/2012/11/08/short-story-rowing-on-the-lakes-of-canada/

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