Saturday, April 2, 2011

Surreal


 The window was wide open causing the unmerciful sun to force his eyelids open as a slight breeze caressed his face. As he regained consciousness he couldn’t help but hear his name being called “Sammy, Sammy, Sammy wake up.” Although it was clearly afternoon, the jack-o’-lanterns across the street on a neighbor’s porch held on to the creepiness that they undoubtedly inspired the night before. As he looked around the brightly lit room, all the furniture was stained white oak and perfectly distressed signaling that it had been mass produced to look as if it was from a much earlier time. Sammy’s eyes seemed to be stuck on the desk directly in front of him, where there was a pale yellow vase holding vibrant pink daisies that popped in contrast to their white wall background. It was strange that on a desk, there was no sign of producing work. As he rolled to the edge of the bed, pulling back the black and white flower patterned comforter he couldn’t help but notice the worn down unpolished hard wood floors that creaked if you didn’t walk light enough. It was then that he noticed the room contained no family photos.  Not even a decorative painting from Wal-Mart, Only blank picture frames that definitely did nothing to jog his memory of the previous night’s occurrences.
Who is she? Where is she? The last thing that he could remember was sitting at the bar attempting to subtly hit on the overwhelmingly attractive bartender when a significantly less attractive woman offered to buy him a drink. He cursed himself for having been so drunk that he could neither refuse the drink nor recall any details about the mystery woman. Still lying on his belly with his right arm and leg dangling off the bed, he reveled in the joy of not having a nasty hang over.
“Good morning!” a voice cheerfully said from the previously closed doorway behind him. Startled, he ripped around to see a plain woman holding a tray containing a breakfast of generous proportion.
“G-go-good morning,” he forced out. Up until this point he had failed to notice that he was completely nude underneath this woman’s comforter. Swelling with embarrassment, he realized he was worried about the woman seeing a body she had most likely explored in depth the night before.
“How did you sleep?”
“Almost like I was in a coma actually…”
“Must have been all the drinks you had,” Bella said as she looked down and slightly to the left.
“Must have been,” he said as if he was actually listening. “Where’s your bathroom?”
“Down the hall, first door on your right.” It was as if she hadn’t even registered his obvious rudeness.
He rose and awkwardly dressed after locating his clothes piled in the corner. She watched intently the whole time. Man, I really wish I had some details to go off of about last night; he thought to himself as he made sure to shut the door and end their staring session. He walked down the hall to the bathroom, which was exactly where the mystery woman said it would be. For some reason, he had doubted her sincerity. After relieving himself and stepping to the sink to wash his hands, the prospect of rifling through her medicine cabinet surfaced in his mind.  He slowly opened the mirrored cabinet above the cold white pedestal sink as to ensure that none of its contents could spill out and make noise.

7 comments:

  1. Hi Jercell-

    You have my attention. :) I can't wait to see what Sammy will find in the medicine cabinet. Oh, the possibilities!

    I want to know more details about Bella's appearance. I have a pretty good idea of what her place looks like though.

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  2. You've got a lot of good specific sensory details in the opening paragraph. I really liked the dialogue.

    There's a bit of clutter in your writing. For example instead of saying: The last thing that he could remember

    Try simply: The last thing he remembered

    Or as Strunk and White say, Omit needless words.

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  3. Jercell,
    Your use of imagery is extremely vivid and really paints a detailed picture for the reader.

    You have a good start so far. I want to know more.

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  4. Great opening paragraph - very descriptive. Good use of inner monologue in the second paragraph. I agree with Sarah that you could show Bella's appearance more. What makes Bella less attractive than the bartender? Also, I would consider using fewer adverbs in the third paragraph. I can't wait to see what Sammy finds in the medicine cabinet. Good start thus far!

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  5. Great story. I agree with Kurt, I would like to know whatmakes the bartender so attractive and what makes the mystery woman so plain. All in all it is a great start. I want to know who this woman is!

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  6. Good description, and way to convey the awkwardness of the encounter between these strangers. I'd like to see where this goes.

    I do agree with Laurie though, omitting needless words will help a lot. (rule #17!) I could use this advice in my own writing, but I find it easier to make writing concise during revision.

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  7. Jercell,
    You have a good start here. I agree that you could use more description on the women, but I would start with the bartender and then maybe add description about Bella after he comes back from the bathroom that you don't have the descriptions on top of each other. Bella can stay plain for a while. Just a suggestion. Also, I agree that you can omit some words or swap them around a little. I am eager to see what happens next.

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