It's been a while. I missed this. But it's okay, because I'm back now, armed with all kinds of knowledge from creative writing courses. Here's some fiction.
All this happened, more or less. (Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse 5) Now I don’t mean to be startin’ off my story making all kinds of
excuses or nothin’, but I just gotta tell you that even I don’t know evrythin’
about what happened that sticky summer. There was so much sneakin’ around and
so many secret rendezvous at midnight that I of course couldn’ta been there for
it all. But I do know an awful lot because I’m good at payin’ attention to what
the grown-up types are sayin’ when they don’t think anyone is list’ning.
Now,
I oughta warn you - Mama says that when I start talkin’ I never know when to
stop. She tells me that she don’t need all the details of every story I tell
her, just the “important bits”. But there’s so much goin’ on in this world and
I don’t see the point in not talkin’ about it all. And ever since Tad found his
way back from university in the big city to work with Pop for the summer,
there’s been a lot more goin’ on than usual. You see, that’s the summer after
Ashley Ellis blossomed. At least, that’s what Miss Lucinda and her book club
ladies called it.
The fall before her 16th birthday, she shot up
and filled out. She had a proper woman’s figure and I’d never noticed before but
it made my knobby kneed, flat-chested self seem all kinds of wrong. Mama said
that I shouldn’t worry myself about things like that because it was all vanity,
but I’d noticed her admirin’ Ashley’s figure with something like envy and
nostalgia all rolled into one.
She
was the first girl I saw that made me think maybe women were the fairer sex
after all, like Miss Lucinda always said. She was beautiful and bold and loved
boys, who all loved her right back. A coquette, Mama called her, a flirt. But
she wasn’t allowed to date anyone because her parents believed in a kind a
datin’ that meant you had to be 18 and wantin’ to get married before you could.
She said it was dumb. She said that about everythin’ that didn’t go just
exactly her way.
The day my brother showed back up in town, I was walkin’
right behind Ashley and her best friend Sarah on our way back from the school
and overheard their whole conversation. I’m pretty sure now that was on
purpose.
“I’m so sick of all these boys,” Ashley whined, turning dramatically to Sarah. “They’re just
such brutes!”
“I thought you liked Tommy though,” Sarah replied.
“Ugh, no! He’s so uncivilized,” she shot back, “I ought
to be spending my time with more sophisticated men. The older ones, you know.”
Ashley glanced back at me pointedly.
“Who do we know that’s older? Most of them have all gone
off somewhere to make somethin’ of themselves.”
“Well
wouldn’t you know, I saw Tad Calhoun walking to the grocer’s this morning. He
must be back to help his Daddy this summer.” Ashley said, wiggling her eyebrows
suggestively
i have always wanted to learn how to use slang and accented words. Its cool that you are so good at it.
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