Sunday, February 21, 2010

Dream

The Tenth Daughter of Memory is having a contest. There are nine muses (prompts) and you write something for each. All nine make up one whole story. This is the last part of the story.

The Muses so far and my contributions:

  1. "A Random Memory" - Dark
  2. "Fear of Writing" - Dismal
  3. "An Ambiance of Technology" - Dam
  4. "Omitting Your Mistakes"  - Design
  5. "Of Feral Mind and Carnal Heart" - Desires
  6. "Earnest Mockery" – Doodle
  7. "Shattered Mirrors" – Detour
  8. "This Business of Jupiter" - Delight
  9. "Infinite Possibility" – Dream
green butterfly Dream


Sunrise. The light shines through the sheer green curtains into the bedroom, waking her. She stretches on Egyptian cotton sheets, yawns and throws back the blankets. She rises and breathes in the smell of fresh brewed coffee. She slips into black fuzzy slippers and pads out to the kitchen. After pouring a cup of coffee, black, she goes upstairs to her office.


She checks her email. She laughs at the amusing comments left by the wonderful readers of her blogs. After drinking several cups of coffee and checking the activity of the internets, she takes her grandson and the dog for an hour long walk. During their stroll through the neighborhood, she takes hundreds of photographs while the puppy marks every bush as his own and the baby coos at life. She waves to the old men in their yards and the children riding tricycles. They take their time. No need to rush.


Once back home, she brunches on an egg and tomato sandwich while listening to the messages from her agent about the latest of her books accepted for publication. The dog barks and bounces on the sofa to let her know the mailman has deposited post in her mailbox. She retrieves her royalty checks. The bills she tosses in the basket for her assistant to pay.


At eleven o’clock, she goes back upstairs to her office, lights a stick of spicy incense, puts flame to a cinnamon candle, presses play on the Gregorian chant CD, setting it to repeat and turns on the DVD player to run Pride and Prejudice with Jennifer Ehle and Collin Firth (six hours of old friends.)


She has eight uninterrupted hours of writing, planning, drawing, researching and writing. She plays with her dragons and crystal ball. She chooses a different flavor of incense. She makes up character names. She plans maps of new worlds with mountains and glacial streams. She paints a flower on the wall. She meditates or stares out the window at the red hawk in the tree across the street. She sips water and pops sunflower seeds. She writes.


At seven, she comes downstairs to a dinner scallops wrapped in bacon and grilled asparagus in the back garden with her husband. They dine while the birds sing and the breeze rustles the bamboo and billows the leaves of the sycamore trees. She sips a gin and tonic while he lights a bonfire in the pit and the moon and stars climb the velvet sky.


When comfortably relaxed, they retire at the end of a perfect day.
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13 comments:

  1. What a perfect day I tell you. Especially the food :) Mmm mmm good...less the egg of course LOL :) Well done my friend :)

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  2. I agree with Thom. A perfect day.

    Now that I have real all of these, I agree with my first assessment. You are a very talented writer!

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  3. You didn't lose me once in that account. How much is a ticket to get there? I would love to set up shop there myself. Beautiful piece... Beautiful dream that is no doubt reality in some way with you. :)

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  4. Here's to you living your DREAM! (I adore Gregorian chant and love that you included it in your story!)

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  5. I envy your creativity and writting skills. Good luck in the contest!

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  6. If we can dream, why can't our dreams come true?
    Don Quixote called and wants his windmills back.

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  7. I love egg and tomato sandwiches! What kind of bread?

    And scallops wrapped in bacon plus asparagus sounds good, too!

    I would omit the scents, though. Never liked scented candles and incense...

    GOOD LUCK with this contest, Nessa!

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  8. ~
    To dream the impossible dream
    To fight the unbeatable foe
    To bear with unbearable sorrow
    To run where the brave dare not go

    To right the unrightable wrong
    To love pure and chaste from afar
    To try when your arms are too weary
    To reach the unreachable star

    This is my quest
    To follow that star
    No matter how hopeless
    No matter how far ...
    ~

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  9. Great story - I love that day :)

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  10. Thanks! This helped a bunch! I've read a couple
    rather confusing blogs lately, this cleared up a lot confusion I had.

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  11. Nessa, I figured it out! Too bad it was the last one when it hit me!

    This is you that you are writing about, a self portrait in words.

    It's good, real good!
    ..
    I'm with GigiHawaii about leaving out the scented candles and incense. I am allergic to them and right now just thinking about it my right elbow is itching.
    They give me an instant sore throat, a headache, and make me itch all over.
    ..

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  12. That would be a pretty perfect day, wouldn't it?

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  13. Simple things to make a nice day.

    Had a few gin and tonics myself recently ;). No back garden involved though!

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