This June the Words for Wednesday are at River's blog Drifting Through Life. For June 9 we were given:
1.amber
2. alabaster
3. bow-legged
4. extensive
5. seesaw
6. kill
and/or:
1. lighthouse
2.market
3. cloudy
4.pigeonhole
5. goldmine
6. mute
Remember to go back, read other peoples' stories there or follow their links back. And please place a comment after reading. Challenges like this one thrives on interaction.
I promised to continue Susan's story. Here's part 3. It's quite depressing ... and as usually it just stops. I'll have to continue the sad story of Susan's comedown, if I can.
After a month the work in the shop and school had settled into a routine. Even carrying the huge amount of money to the post office every night had lost its thrill.
Susan began playing with Laurids and his crew again, but a bow-legged man playing violin and saw-blades had taken over her place in the band, and he was better, even if Susan hated to admit it. The summer spent at Unicorn Farm (even if she remembered it as a 4H summer course), her accident with following bed rest, and then work with and in the new shop had not left her much time for practise, and her play was rusty and not fluent. Lady Marion of course was a darling, as were Stellan and Jasper, the two brothers from abroad, but Susan felt ill at ease.
One evening after the shop had closed, Susan sat on a bench in the market square. Just sitting, not wanting to go home, eat dinner, do homework and go to bed. The early summer night was warm, the pearly sky beautiful, and she just sat there.
A bunch of people, she knew a little from school passed by and sat themselves down on the neighbouring benches. They talked a bit, agonizing over school, work and life in general.
The others rose to go somewhere, and Mike said: "Come with us, Susan., We're going to have a beer and play some pool at The Dipper."
"I'm not very good at pool," Susan protested, "and I don't like beer."
"You do not have to drink any, if you don't like it. They serve soft drinks as well, and we're not better at pool than you are, I'm sure," he insisted.
Susan rose from the bench and went with them to The Dipper. It was one of the more dingy places in town; an arched gateway led from the street through the house to a cobbled yard where rickety tables and flowers in old oil cans stood invitingly in the dusk. Quite a few customers sat by the tables, hugging glass mugs with amber contents. Susan followed in the wake of the others and was met by the overwhelming, but somehow comforting smell of stale smoke, beer and human bodies.
They placed their orders at a bar, Susan went for a chocolate milk, and earned no strange stares, which pleased her immensely. The bottles of liquor were neatly stacked in pigeon holes behind the counter, where you would expect a mirror.
They paid and continued up the stairs and tackled the pool table. To her own surprise, Susan was not bad at it. She had of course had some practise at the pool table in the attic, but this bunch used to play almost every night. As the evening wore on, and the others drank more beer, Susan became better and better in comparison, and actually had fun beating them at the game.
When she returned home, her parents had gone to bed and put a note on the door. "Please be quiet!" She tiptoed in, brushed her teeth and slept from her alarm clock next morning.
Mum came in and woke her up: "Where did you spend last night, young lady?" she asked sternly.
Susan answered truthfully that she had been playing pool with a bunch of her schoolmates.
"Did you drink?" Mum asked, sniffing suspiciously.
"Nope," Susan said. "You know, I don't like beer, and I'm not allowed to buy liquor, and even if I was, it's too expensive. I drank chocolate milk, lots of them actually, as all the others drank beer, and kept on losing. I only paid for two of them myself."
Mum smiled. "You're a smart girl, Susan. Keep it that way, but don't come home this late every evening."
"I won't," Susan promised. "It's not nice being this tired in the morning."
1.
2. alabaster
3.
4. extensive
5. seesaw
6. kill
and/or:
1. lighthouse
2.
3. cloudy
4.
5. goldmine
6. mute
Remember to go back, read other peoples' stories there or follow their links back. And please place a comment after reading. Challenges like this one thrives on interaction.
I promised to continue Susan's story. Here's part 3. It's quite depressing ... and as usually it just stops. I'll have to continue the sad story of Susan's comedown, if I can.
After a month the work in the shop and school had settled into a routine. Even carrying the huge amount of money to the post office every night had lost its thrill.
Susan began playing with Laurids and his crew again, but a bow-legged man playing violin and saw-blades had taken over her place in the band, and he was better, even if Susan hated to admit it. The summer spent at Unicorn Farm (even if she remembered it as a 4H summer course), her accident with following bed rest, and then work with and in the new shop had not left her much time for practise, and her play was rusty and not fluent. Lady Marion of course was a darling, as were Stellan and Jasper, the two brothers from abroad, but Susan felt ill at ease.
One evening after the shop had closed, Susan sat on a bench in the market square. Just sitting, not wanting to go home, eat dinner, do homework and go to bed. The early summer night was warm, the pearly sky beautiful, and she just sat there.
A bunch of people, she knew a little from school passed by and sat themselves down on the neighbouring benches. They talked a bit, agonizing over school, work and life in general.
The others rose to go somewhere, and Mike said: "Come with us, Susan., We're going to have a beer and play some pool at The Dipper."
"I'm not very good at pool," Susan protested, "and I don't like beer."
"You do not have to drink any, if you don't like it. They serve soft drinks as well, and we're not better at pool than you are, I'm sure," he insisted.
Susan rose from the bench and went with them to The Dipper. It was one of the more dingy places in town; an arched gateway led from the street through the house to a cobbled yard where rickety tables and flowers in old oil cans stood invitingly in the dusk. Quite a few customers sat by the tables, hugging glass mugs with amber contents. Susan followed in the wake of the others and was met by the overwhelming, but somehow comforting smell of stale smoke, beer and human bodies.
They placed their orders at a bar, Susan went for a chocolate milk, and earned no strange stares, which pleased her immensely. The bottles of liquor were neatly stacked in pigeon holes behind the counter, where you would expect a mirror.
They paid and continued up the stairs and tackled the pool table. To her own surprise, Susan was not bad at it. She had of course had some practise at the pool table in the attic, but this bunch used to play almost every night. As the evening wore on, and the others drank more beer, Susan became better and better in comparison, and actually had fun beating them at the game.
When she returned home, her parents had gone to bed and put a note on the door. "Please be quiet!" She tiptoed in, brushed her teeth and slept from her alarm clock next morning.
Mum came in and woke her up: "Where did you spend last night, young lady?" she asked sternly.
Susan answered truthfully that she had been playing pool with a bunch of her schoolmates.
"Did you drink?" Mum asked, sniffing suspiciously.
"Nope," Susan said. "You know, I don't like beer, and I'm not allowed to buy liquor, and even if I was, it's too expensive. I drank chocolate milk, lots of them actually, as all the others drank beer, and kept on losing. I only paid for two of them myself."
Mum smiled. "You're a smart girl, Susan. Keep it that way, but don't come home this late every evening."
"I won't," Susan promised. "It's not nice being this tired in the morning."
Do you think Susan is going to keep her promise?
To be continued ...
I think Susan will keep her promise, most of the time. There may be occasions when she needs to stay out late. I'm glad she went and had fun with her friends.
SvarSletI hope she is able to keep her promise. I really hope it, but fear that it may not be possible.
SvarSletHow nice not to be judged for not joining the others in drinking alcohol. Rare I fear.
Making of a great short story. Looking forward to next chapter.
SvarSletIf she does end up out late, i get the feeling it will not be by choice.
SvarSletOh, Susan, please make good decisions!
SvarSletWell done, Charlotte!