For this two-part post, I’m going to compose action into two different scenes. The first scene is going to be a rewrite of Tobias Wolff’s piece Bullet in the Brain where I provide a different story line. The second scene will be a specific moment in my life that I put into words and great detail.
Anders, probably already pissed off by his own everyday life, enters the bank and he doesn’t even know that his day is going to go from bad to worse. Irritated by the line that stretched out in from of him, he tunes into a conversation taking place by two annoying women ahead of him. With both him and the ladies noticing the teller place a sign in her window “POSTION CLOSED” anger begins to build in everyone. “Oh, that’s nice” the one woman says with frustration. Anders responds with a sarcastic reply that basically told her to get over it even though he was mad about the situation as well. A moment past and the line barley moving, the two of them went on with their day. As silence took over the bank, everyone stopped what they were doing to look at the two men dressed in blue business suit and ski masks. The one holding a gun pressed up against one of the security guard’s neck. Fear grew over Anders and he felt completely frozen. One of the men in the ski mask orders everyone to get on the ground. The two ladies drop to the ground along with the rest of the people in the building, but Anders still has yet to move. Still frozen, one of the men came up to him with the gun pointed at his head and pushed him to the ground. The robbers take the money they had one of the tellers put in a bag for them. No one was harmed, just scared. In that moment before all of this, he was mad at the world for being boring, but he never realized how precious and fragile life could be. He regrets every taking his life for granite. [edited] As we all stood around a hole in the middle of a small garden, we heard nothing but our sad thoughts in our heads. It has been one year since my cousin left us. The sky is dark and filled with clouds and the rain just won't stop. It was as if the sky was crying for us. We all surrounded the soil while a family member read off a speech. I try and listen to the poem but far too much is going on in my head right now. As I stand under this umbrella, I feel this sense of protection and safeness. I look over at my mother who is hysterically crying which brings a tear to my eye. After the speech is ended, a tree is going into the hole and it was our job to fill it. I watch as my uncles help with this process. As they are removing the tree from the container, the tree looks sad in a way that it needed a home. The roots swayed as they carry it and the branches do not stand tall just yet. This tree is to provide strength and reassurance that it will not go anywhere. With the roots to grow and spread through the ground. I took a cup of soil and walked up to the garden where the tree is. I dump my cup and begin filling the hole for the tree knowing this as to start filling the whole in my heart.
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Some moments in life stick out to you more than others. They can be important or just something that happens in your everyday routine. For my next post I’ve read What is Creative Nonfiction?by Lee Gutkind andMaking Scenes in Memoir by Lee Martin. I used what I learned from the two readings and created a scene in my present life. I finish cleaning off my last table of the day while thinking to myself “man, I hate this job”. With ketchup splattered all over the table and crumbs all over the floor from the babies that were just “so cute” according to their mothers. I grab my tip money, clock out, and get the hell out of there. Its only 3:30 pm and I’m scheduled to go on at 3:55. I realize the venue is only 10 minutes away with no traffic, but I know I never get that lucky. I hop in my car, (more like my old beat up ford truck. It was my dad’s, and he gave it to me, I try not to complain and beggers can’t be choosers) and drive off. To no surprise, there was tons of traffic, so I wait patiently and listen to my song I’m performing on repeat. After running two red lights, I make it with 7 minutes left until my set. Now remember, I just came from my shift at the Coffee Station and I’m not looking my best. I sprint to the bathroom. I contemplated getting changed but then I realized who really wants to see me in a shirt that says “breakfast makes me smile” with a smiley face made out of eggs and bacons on the back. Yeah, no thanks. I quickly throw my hair up and get changed. Look in the mirror and give myself a quick little pep talk. I normally don’t get all that nervous but after all of this running around I’m a little stressed. As I’m about to go talk to my parents and all of my family members who came out to see me, I remember I don’t have my guitar on me. I forgot it at home. I’m back to stressing again and am now on the verge of tears. I love my guitar and I realize I could play with someone else’s, but it just wouldn’t be the same. I tell my parents and to my surprise, my dad had it with him. My dad says, “I saw that you left this by the front door when you left for work this morning and thought you might need it”. Thank god. I gave them both the quickest hug and they wish me good luck. After all of the clapping ends from the performer before me, I walk up to the small stage that’s barley a stage, but I get excited anyway. I take a seat, plug my guitar in and play. Three minutes and ten seconds go by, but it has felt like an hour. The crowd roars and an endless applause begins. Now frankly, it’s mostly my family cheering but I don’t care. This has to be one of the best feelings ever and I didn’t want the moment to end. I wanted to play another song but that was the end of my time slot. The chills and shakes continue for what felt like forever and you can’t whip this smile off my face that spread from ear to ear. I read Teach Writing as a Process Not a Product by Don Murray, Against Vanity: In Praise of Revision by Mary Karr, and Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott for this next post. Below I found multiple quotes from each passage to create a writers’ roundtable discussion between the three writers and me.
It’s 2:47 pm on a Friday and me and my friend have been waiting in line for over an hour now. It’s hot, were hungry and my friend has to use the bathroom. Our favorite band is in town and being here this early will guarantee us front row. My friend still needs to use the bathroom and we begin asking around where the closest restroom is located. This group of people in front us inform her where the bathroom is, and she runs. I stay behind to make sure we don’t lose our spot. I overhear the conversation between the people in front of me and I immediately gain interest. I join in and I’m eager to learn something new. I become friendly with Mary, Don and Anne. They continue their conversation on the writing process. “Most of us are trained English teachers by studying a product: writing” Don begins I join in and ask, “how you do you guys go about your own writing?” Anne responds, “I let my mind wonder.” Mary says “In the beginning, when there are zero pages, you have to cheer yourself into cranking stuff out, even if its later lands on the cutting room floor. “We have to be patient and wait, and wait, and wait.” Don replies “So, try learning how to cut out the dull parts” Mary adds “So, with your students, how do you see their writing? I know with my own writing I find myself fitting unnecessary sentences in.” I ask “I find that beginners always try to fit their whole lives into ten pages, and they always write blatantly about themselves.” Anne replies I ask, “How do you guys go about explaining the writing process?” Don says “The writing process itself can be divided into three stages: pre-writing, writing, and rewriting” Mary explains “Every writer I know who’s worth a damn spends way more time “losing” than “winning”’ “Because I have been writing for so long, I would eventually let myself trust the process… sort of, more or less” Anne explains In my first post, I have my answers to The Proust Questionnaire. No one has ever asked me these deep of questions, so I found it challenging to answer them. I ended up answering all of the questions because honestly, I wanted to know what my response would be. I thought it was interesting to begin my English 112 class with this activity because it made me think about who I am and provide my readers with insight on how I view the world.
What is your idea of perfect happiness? My idea of perfect happiness is my loved ones and I being healthy What is your greatest fear? My greatest fear is dying alone What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? I do not like how much I worry about the littlest things What is the trait you most deplore in others? I hate liars Which living person do you most admire? I most admire my mother What is your greatest extravagance? Traveling to Europe the summer of 2017 with all of my close friends What is your current state of mind? Overwhelmed What do you consider the most overrated virtue? I think maintaining a high social status is so overrated On what occasion do you lie? I lie to spare other people’s feelings What do you most dislike about your appearance? My nose Which living person do you most despise? I personally do not despise anyone What is the quality you most like in a man? I respect a man most when they are hardworking and are willing to do anything for their family What is the quality you most like in a woman? I admire the care and love that women have towards their children Which words or phrases do you most overuse? “Sorry” What or who is the greatest love of your life? Music is and always has been the love of my life When and where were you happiest? Weekend mornings up at my mountain house in the fall Which talent would you most like to have? I would love to be able to have an eye for fashion. I always aspire to be the people who could just throw something on that most people wouldn’t even think go together If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? If I could change one thing about myself it would have to be my addictive personality What do you consider your greatest achievement? My greatest achievement thus far would have to be graduating high school. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? I would love to come back as a dog with a loving family so I can just relax all day Where would you most like to live? I honestly enjoy living in Pennsylvania because we get to experience every season What is your most treasured possession? My guitar What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Lowest depth of misery to me would be a loved one suffering from either physical or mental pain What is your favorite occupation? Not for me to do personally but I have always liked pediatric doctors/nurses What is your most marked characteristic? I believe my most marked characteristic is being generous. What do you most value in your friends? I value a consistent friend. Someone who I don’t have to talk to every day but I know I can always rely on them. Who are your favorite writers?
Peyton Sawyer, she’s a character from One Tree Hill and without her I wouldn’t have the love for music that I do today Which historical figure do you most identify with? Not sure Who are your heroes in real life? My parents What are your favorite names?
I dislike staying up late What is your greatest regret? I do not have any regrets How would you like to die? I would like to die of old age and in my sleep What is your motto? To remember that “love is louder than the pressure to be perfect” – Demi Lovato |
Inspiration"Step into a scene and let it drip from your fingertips"- MJ Bush Archives
December 2018
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