Monday, March 28, 2011
Excerpt #10, from pages 50-51 of "Stream of Consciousness"
I tried to hold the book up so I could at least finish the page, but my eyelids stubbornly closed shut like an iron box keeping a hold upon its secret treasures deep inside. Maybe my dreams would produce the next part of my book. But I’d probably spend a few minutes first dreaming about Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. They are just the sweetest couple of the early nineteenth century. Even though they are fictitious, I know they represent real stories, human longings, true love, and hope. Ah to dream.
I woke up the next morning with my dog licking my left cheek. I must have had a little bit of mint ice cream left on my face. Thankfully she recently had some doggie dental work done and her breath wasn’t too bad. Eric never returned to our room. I was sure he was still asleep in one of the kid’s rooms. I heard my phone beeping like there was a text message, so I got up to check. I couldn’t believe what I read:
Renee, we have to talk. Things are not going well with Jared. I don’t ever want to talk to him again. Skipping the piece of crap cruise. You can use my ticket. Not gonna make it to dinner tonight either. Call me—jen :(
“Nooooooooooooooooooooooo! Crap!” I yelled out loud. I was glad no-one else was awake yet, besides my canine companion. And glad I hadn’t yelled something worse than that. My mouth had a way of slipping out a few non-euphemisms from time to time, though I wasn’t generally proud of those. I texted back using all ten fingers at once.
Jen, u can’t cancel. Let’s talk first. U guys have to come to dinner. Big surprise. What happened? Call me, now!—renee :(
Oh my gosh. I’m freaking. My one spontaneous and amazing plan in the past thirteen years and it’s not going to work out. I’ve got to do something. I have to find Jared. That’s what I’ve got to do. But how do I get his number. Maybe Jadan knows one of his friends from Starbucks. Ahhh… I’m panicking. This has to work.
I texted Jadan and amazingly he did have Jared’s last name, so I was able to look it up online. I got a hold of one of his old room-mates who lived with him before he moved out to buy his own townhome. I actually got it. So, I called and demanded to know what had happened.
“Hey Jared, this is Renee, Jen’s best friend. What the hell happened? Jen texted me and she’s pissed and freaking out. I need to know,” I ordered in a sharp tone.
“Wow, it’s still seven in the morning on a Saturday Renee. Don’t you think you might want to hear my side of the story first before you condemn me to the doghouse?” he patiently implored.
“Okay, sorry. I’m super stressed because, well… I’ll just come out and tell you. I planned this huge surprise that I was going to tell you and Jen about later tonight during dinner at my house. We were going to have a triple date cuz I bought tickets for me and my husband to join you guys on the cruise. And then, this new friend and his girlfriend planned to come too. And I’m usually not like this, I mean, we hardly travel since we’ve had kids, but I wanted it to work out so much. Now Jen’s acting crazy about something you did. What happened?” I questioned in a more civilized tone this time.
“Well, I’m not exactly sure Renee. Jen is a dramatic woman, let’s just say, I’m not totally sure. She was at my place and fell asleep out on the couch, but nothing happened. I mean, not that you care, but seriously we just had a nice dinner and watched a movie, so I covered her with a blanket and woke up to her yelling and acting ballistic. I’m as surprised as you are,” he said in a seriously perplexed tone.
“Wow, that is strange Jared. Sorry to accuse you like I did. That was truly rude of me. Maybe we can work this out. Can you tell me what you guys ate last night?”
“What we ate? Isn’t that a strange question? I mean, what the heck does that have to do with what happened?”
“Well, Jen is hypoglycemic. She gets imbalanced when her sugar gets off. When she starts wigging at me, I usually hand her a piece of candy and it gets us back on track. And the truth is, she’s totally PMSing too. She might just be having a panic attack about her decision to go on a cruise with someone she just met a few weeks ago,” I said trying to assuage his confusion.
“That’s a lot to take in. Okay, well things were going well. I was going to run out and get some bagels and coffee and return before she even woke up, but I ran out when I heard yelling and she was inconsolable. I didn’t have a fricking clue what to do, so if you can think of something, I’d love for this to work out somehow,” he said optimistically.
“No worries Jared. My family is still asleep but Eric’s home, so I’ll leave a note and then I’ll head over to her place to find her and calm her down,” I said convincingly.
“Okay, thanks Renee. That would be great. I’ll keep my phone on all day, so just text me or call when you figure anything out,” he begged.
“We’re like sisters so don’t worry. I’ll get this figured out,” I said comforting him over the phone.
I quickly changed my clothes, wrote a note for Eric, and grabbed my keys. And I was off like a speeding bullet over to Jen’s place. She had to be more settled down by this time. I was sure this would get worked out somehow. I basically ran through three orange, but technically red lights to get there as fast as I did. I barely locked my door as I sprinted to Jen’s door. I knocked like a Roman guard upon her navy blue door. The potted pink miniature roses sat peacefully next to me with their sweet aroma calming my nerves. I knew this would get resolved somehow. I heard footsteps and knew it had to be Jen.
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QUESTION FOR MY READERS:
QUICK VOTE, WHO THINKS JARED IS A GOOD GUY FOR JEN? SHOULD THEY STAY TOGETHER?
I woke up the next morning with my dog licking my left cheek. I must have had a little bit of mint ice cream left on my face. Thankfully she recently had some doggie dental work done and her breath wasn’t too bad. Eric never returned to our room. I was sure he was still asleep in one of the kid’s rooms. I heard my phone beeping like there was a text message, so I got up to check. I couldn’t believe what I read:
Renee, we have to talk. Things are not going well with Jared. I don’t ever want to talk to him again. Skipping the piece of crap cruise. You can use my ticket. Not gonna make it to dinner tonight either. Call me—jen :(
“Nooooooooooooooooooooooo! Crap!” I yelled out loud. I was glad no-one else was awake yet, besides my canine companion. And glad I hadn’t yelled something worse than that. My mouth had a way of slipping out a few non-euphemisms from time to time, though I wasn’t generally proud of those. I texted back using all ten fingers at once.
Jen, u can’t cancel. Let’s talk first. U guys have to come to dinner. Big surprise. What happened? Call me, now!—renee :(
Oh my gosh. I’m freaking. My one spontaneous and amazing plan in the past thirteen years and it’s not going to work out. I’ve got to do something. I have to find Jared. That’s what I’ve got to do. But how do I get his number. Maybe Jadan knows one of his friends from Starbucks. Ahhh… I’m panicking. This has to work.
I texted Jadan and amazingly he did have Jared’s last name, so I was able to look it up online. I got a hold of one of his old room-mates who lived with him before he moved out to buy his own townhome. I actually got it. So, I called and demanded to know what had happened.
“Hey Jared, this is Renee, Jen’s best friend. What the hell happened? Jen texted me and she’s pissed and freaking out. I need to know,” I ordered in a sharp tone.
“Wow, it’s still seven in the morning on a Saturday Renee. Don’t you think you might want to hear my side of the story first before you condemn me to the doghouse?” he patiently implored.
“Okay, sorry. I’m super stressed because, well… I’ll just come out and tell you. I planned this huge surprise that I was going to tell you and Jen about later tonight during dinner at my house. We were going to have a triple date cuz I bought tickets for me and my husband to join you guys on the cruise. And then, this new friend and his girlfriend planned to come too. And I’m usually not like this, I mean, we hardly travel since we’ve had kids, but I wanted it to work out so much. Now Jen’s acting crazy about something you did. What happened?” I questioned in a more civilized tone this time.
“Well, I’m not exactly sure Renee. Jen is a dramatic woman, let’s just say, I’m not totally sure. She was at my place and fell asleep out on the couch, but nothing happened. I mean, not that you care, but seriously we just had a nice dinner and watched a movie, so I covered her with a blanket and woke up to her yelling and acting ballistic. I’m as surprised as you are,” he said in a seriously perplexed tone.
“Wow, that is strange Jared. Sorry to accuse you like I did. That was truly rude of me. Maybe we can work this out. Can you tell me what you guys ate last night?”
“What we ate? Isn’t that a strange question? I mean, what the heck does that have to do with what happened?”
“Well, Jen is hypoglycemic. She gets imbalanced when her sugar gets off. When she starts wigging at me, I usually hand her a piece of candy and it gets us back on track. And the truth is, she’s totally PMSing too. She might just be having a panic attack about her decision to go on a cruise with someone she just met a few weeks ago,” I said trying to assuage his confusion.
“That’s a lot to take in. Okay, well things were going well. I was going to run out and get some bagels and coffee and return before she even woke up, but I ran out when I heard yelling and she was inconsolable. I didn’t have a fricking clue what to do, so if you can think of something, I’d love for this to work out somehow,” he said optimistically.
“No worries Jared. My family is still asleep but Eric’s home, so I’ll leave a note and then I’ll head over to her place to find her and calm her down,” I said convincingly.
“Okay, thanks Renee. That would be great. I’ll keep my phone on all day, so just text me or call when you figure anything out,” he begged.
“We’re like sisters so don’t worry. I’ll get this figured out,” I said comforting him over the phone.
I quickly changed my clothes, wrote a note for Eric, and grabbed my keys. And I was off like a speeding bullet over to Jen’s place. She had to be more settled down by this time. I was sure this would get worked out somehow. I basically ran through three orange, but technically red lights to get there as fast as I did. I barely locked my door as I sprinted to Jen’s door. I knocked like a Roman guard upon her navy blue door. The potted pink miniature roses sat peacefully next to me with their sweet aroma calming my nerves. I knew this would get resolved somehow. I heard footsteps and knew it had to be Jen.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION FOR MY READERS:
QUICK VOTE, WHO THINKS JARED IS A GOOD GUY FOR JEN? SHOULD THEY STAY TOGETHER?
Labels: book excerpt from Stream of Consciousness
