THE
JOY OF STORY
John
M. Daniel’s Blog
August
13, 2016
Beware.
The past will come and haunt you. The past is never over with. As William
Faulkner said, “The past isn’t dead. It’s not even past.”
These
visits from the past usually occur as a surprise. And they often come in the
form of a person you haven’t thought of for ages. These people from your past walk
into the scene unannounced, and, intentionally or not, they stir up the
present, either making your day a bit pleasanter or presenting an unholy mess
that needs to be cleaned up.
It’s
surprises like this that make good fiction. The appearance of somebody who was
once important in your protagonist’s life is sure to add spice to your plot.
New twists, new conflicts, new changes, new consequences, the return of the
past’s pleasures or troubles. So if your story is stuck and going stale (it
happens to all of us), try introducing a sentimental or unsettling someone the
reader has never met before, a someone your main character knows all too well
and hasn’t thought of for years.
In
the stories that follow, join some men and women as they meet up with their
pasts, thanks to surprise visits from a former teacher, a deceased spouse, a departed
mother, old friends, and old flames. Who knows where these chance meetings
might take us if the authors weren’t confined to 99 words.…
§§§
FATHER WALDRON
by June Kosier
There was only an elderly priest on the
elevator I was taking when leaving work. “Are you Father Waldron?”
“Yes, I am. Do I know you?”
“You taught me Freshman Latin in 1963.”
“I must have been a very bad teacher if
you still remember me.”
“No Father, you were a very good
teacher—better than the nun that taught second-year Latin. She would have a fit
if you put your name on the right side of your homework instead of the left as
she wanted. You didn’t care as long as your name was somewhere.”
He smiled knowingly.
•••
MIRACLE AT THE
HEADLANDS
by Barbara LaSalle
My walking rule was
five miles an hour. Only the beat of hip-hop kept me on pace. I looked at
nothing but the path and my watch. But I happened to turn my head to the right,
and that’s when I saw it: the Headlands!
Awestruck, I fell to
my knees. Recovering at last, I ran to my husband. “Look!” I said, dragging him
outside. “A miracle!” “
Where?” he said.
Years later I returned to that same
spot, and there I found him: my late husband—on his knees, staring at the
Headlands.
“Look!,” he said. “A
miracle.”
•••
NOT TOO YOUNG
NOT TO GET MARRIED
by Christine
Viscuso
“Paris, the City of Lights. Nine long
years. I’m back.” I huffed and puffed as Frank and I climbed the stairs to the
first landing of Le Tour Eiffel.
I looked up through the wrought iron
lattice structure to see a Peter O’Toole look-alike with a dyed black Pompadour
descending. I recognized those green eyes belonging to the Elvis wannabe—my
high school sweetheart.
The man stopped with a clinging, much
younger woman. “Chris?”
“Hi Bobby.”
“It’s been almost fifty years.”
“Never forgot how you left me for
someone younger. Your wife seems ageless though.”
“Meet wife number four.”
•••
A VISION OF MOM
AND MILFORD
by Jerry
Giammatteo
I approached the beach in Milford, Connecticut for the first time in thirty
years. To my surprise, I saw the bungalow we shared each summer with my
cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. I was certain it was bulldozed to
make room for condos many years ago.
I walked the beach hesitantly. It was empty except for a boy about six
years old in the water and an attractive woman calling out, “Don’t go out any
farther. You’re doing great.”
It was only then I realized the boy in the sound was me and the pretty
lady was my mom.
•••
THE RAFT
by Tom Donovan
I
watched the Harlem River flow by the old Highbridge in the Bronx. Years ago Terry,
a red-haired freckled faced twelve year old, beckoned to us kids to join him on
the rickety raft he’d built.
Six kids clambered on, to beat the August heat.
After swimming, the six of us went home, but
Terry stayed below the pea green water of the river, held fast by a long hooked
nail under the raft.
After all those years, Terry again waved to me
to join him.
I waved back, enjoying my world, and not yet
ready to join his.
•••
SWEETS
ON THE CYCLONE
by
Diane Morelli
I
was seventeen the first time I rode The Cyclone. Too afraid to go on
alone, I convinced my ballsiest friend, Twizzlers, to join me. That August we
rode the rickety rollercoaster fourteen nights straight.
Twizzlers
and I sat in the last car, giggled on the chug up the tallest ramp,
admired all of Coney Island from the apex, and howled from the terrifying first
drop and the jolting turns that followed.
Since
then, I've taken an annual Cyclone ride. Always in the rear, alone.
While boarding this summer, someone pushed on with me.
She said, "Move over, Skittles."
•••
FANCY SEEING YOU HERE
by Margaret Ueland
For our honeymoon Larry and I went to Mendocino, California. On the
summer solstice I persuaded him to walk with me on the bluffs to watch the
sunset.
“I did this every year I was in college,” I said as we watched. “On
the solstice.”
Just as the sun set, I heard a familiar voice. “Midge? Is that you?”
Yikes! I turned and said, “Hal?” We hugged till I pulled apart. I
introduced him to Larry.
Hal told Larry, “Midge and I watched the sunset together here every
solstice, back in the day.”
“I see,” Larry said. “I see.”
§§§
Call for submissions: Your 99-Word
Stories
The
deadline for September’s 99-word story submissions is September 1. The stories
will appear on my blog post for September 10, and will stay posted for a week.
note: this 99-word story feature
is a game, not a contest. Obey the rules and I’ll include your story. I may
edit the story to make it stronger, and it’s understood that you will submit to
my editing willingly. That’s an unwritten rule.
Rules for the 99-word
story feature are as follows:
1. Your story must be 99
words long, exactly.
2. One story per writer,
per month.
3. The story must be a
story. That means it needs plot (something or somebody has to change),
characters, and conflict.
4. The story must be
inspired by the prompt I assign.
5. The deadline: the
first of the month. Stories will appear on this blog the second Saturday of the
month.
6. I will copy edit the
story. The author of the story retains all rights.
7.
Email me your story (in the body of your email, or as a Word attachment) to: jmd@danielpublishing.com
THIS
MONTH’S PROMPT FOR NEXT MONTH’S 99-WORD STORY: Write a story
inspired by the following sentence: The
Princess looked again into the mirror and said, “You’ve got to be kidding.”
§§§
Calling
all published authors—
I feature a guest author
the third Saturday (and week following) of each month. If you’re interested in
posting an essay on my blog—it’s also a chance to promote a published
book—email me directly at jmd@danielpublishing.com.
§§§
Thank you for visiting.
Please drop by next week.
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